Antilia won consecutive starts for the first time in her career, taking minor handicaps in Australia in March, and had that winning streak interrupted by a narrow loss in a one-mile handicap on April 7.
Antilia was beaten only a neck in that race, a promising performance that makes her the horse to beat in a handicap at about seven furlongs at Grafton Racecourse in Australia on Monday.
Tom Wood:
R1: 12 – 3 – 4 – 1
R2: 12 – 2 – 9 – 6
R3: 1 – 8 – 6 – 4
R4: 13 – 14 – 10 – 6
R5: 1 – 11 – 2 – 9
R6: 1 – 13 – 10 – 6
R7: 1 – 2 – 6 – 3
R8: 1 – 2 – 6 – 7
R9: 4 – 7 – 6 – 11
R10: 6 – 1 – 3 – 9
BEST: R9 N4 COMPUTER PATCH (WIN)
VALUE: R6 N13 E STAR (EW)
PLAY: R9 - TRIO 4,7 < 6,10, 11,12
Andrew Le Jeune:
R1: 14-3-1-6
R2: 6-1-11-8
R3: 1-11-7-6
R4: 3-2-10-13
R5: 1-11-8-5
The countryside meeting at Tamworth Racecourse, and an appearance in Sunday’s $102,080 Tamworth Showcase Cup, may be a better fit for McCormack than a trip he took to Sydney for the $255,200 Provincial Championship earlier this month at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Australia.
McCormack finished seventh of 15 at Randwick in the richest race of his 17-race career, beaten 4 1/2 lengths at 8-1. The 4-year-old Southern Hemisphere gelding figures to be a fraction of those odds in the Tamworth Showcase Cup, which will have a maximum of 14 runners and is run at seven furlongs.
Beauty Generation isn’t quite the same horse as when he won the 2019 Champions Mile, but it is going to take a very, very good horse to keep him from winning the 2020 Champions Mile on Sunday at Sha Tin Racecourse.
Waikuku a couple months ago looked like that horse, but as Beauty Generation soldiered on, winning the Chairman’s Trophy Stakes on April 5, Waikuku, who was favored, took a wrong step in that start, backing up after holding perfect position at the top of the stretch to finish sixth, beaten nearly five lengths.
SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, April 26, 2020)
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Live racing will return in France starting on May 11, though without spectators and with bans on shippers from other racing jurisdictions, the country’s racing authority announced on Wednesday.
France-Galop, which governs Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing in the country, said that the plan to resume racing still has details to be worked out, but for now, racing will return to some tracks on the May 11 date with protocols that will restrict attendance to one trainer, one jockey, and one groom for each horse entered.
The most appealing aspect of the three Group 3 races on Saturday at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia, is the competitive nature of the contests.
As of Wednesday, future-book prices for those races listed the lowest favorite at 3-1.
The eight-race Rosehill Gardens program begins at 10:50 p.m. Eastern, or 7:50 p.m. Pacific on Friday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
Loving Miss will be favored to win her second consecutive start in the Queensland Thoroughbred Incentive Scheme Handicap for Southern Hemisphere juveniles at seven furlongs at Gold Coast Racecourse on Friday.
Loving Miss, one of seven fillies in a field of nine, has shown an affinity for Gold Coast, having finished second in a handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs there on March 21 before a two-length win in a handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs on April 9.
In her brief career, Hardspot has turned her quickness into four wins in seven starts at minor tracks in Australia.
A 5-year-old Southern Hemisphere mare, Hardspot has excelled at five and six furlongs, which makes her presence in a six-furlong handicap at Newcastle Racecourse on Thursday all the more intriguing.
Mark McNamara
R1 – 6,9,11,2
R2 – 12,3,11,5
R3 – 8,6,3,10
R4 – 5,2,9,11
R5 – 5,9,1,11
R6 – 2,6,5,3
R7 – 10,2,4,6
R8 – 1,5,3,7
R9 – 4,1,7,8
Best bet: Race 5 No 5 Winning Ways
Longshot: Race 2 No 12 Happy Winner
Play: Race 4 Q/QPL -2-5-9-11
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Andrew Le Jeune
