The “Championships at Randwick” will climax this Friday night with a hotly anticipated clash of hemispheres between Australia's best racehorse, Anamoe, and English raider, Dubai Honour. In the mold of the Breeders' Cup, more than AU$27 million in riches are distributed across eight Group 1 races at The Championships, which began last Friday night and provided some huge payouts and great value for horseplayers. Sky Racing World's Jason Witham and FanDuel TV's Andrew “Dubbs” Anderson will be broadcasting live from Sydney's Royal Randwick on FanDuel TV. First post is 9:40 p.m. ET / 6:40 p.m. PT.
The AU$5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Race 8) has echoes of the epic battles between English warrior, Addeybb, and Australian Horse of the Year, Verry Elleegant, who crossed swords four memorable times in 2020 and '21. This year, Dubai Honour has seamlessly adopted the role of Addeybb, with the same English trainer-jockey combination of William Haggas and Tom Marquand. And Anamoe will inevitably be voted Horse of the Year for the current Australian season. Coincidentally, the pair won successive races on the same March 17 card at Rosehill. Dubai Honour pulverized Group 1 opposition in a spectacular Australian debut at the Queen Elizabeth distance of 1 1/4 miles. Forty-five minutes later, Anamoe overcame a difficult trip to score a hard-fought, courageous win at 7 1/2 furlongs. That victory extended his world record for Group 1 wins by a Godolphin horse to nine. The Queen Elizabeth will be Anamoe's final race on Australian soil, before the 4-year-old champion son of Street Boss is sent to Royal Ascot.
Bookmakers are finding Dubai Honour and Anamoe inseparable, quoting each at 3-2 (ironically, they have even drawn adjacent post positions). However, both James Cummings, Anamoe's trainer, and Haggas have cautioned against considering the Queen Elizabeth a two-horse race. Given the growing global impact of Japanese horses, Unicorn Lion (10-1) should not be taken lightly – nor should his trainer.
In 2021, Yoshito Yahagi became the first Japanese trainer to win a Breeders' Cup race (he actually had two winners at Del Mar: Loves Only You and Marche Lorraine). Yahagi had already won a jewel of Australian racing, the W.S. Cox Plate in 2019 with star mare Lys Gracieux. The 62-year-old's visit to Royal Randwick is a homecoming of sorts, as he started his career at Randwick in 1981 at age 20. Yahagi gained invaluable experience working for Australian Hall of Fame trainer Neville Begg, whom he respectfully remembers as his “master.” As a champion trainer in Japan who has won numerous high-level races in five other countries – including February's Saudi Cup with Panthalassa – Yahagi now commands his own respect and is “really excited to be back here.”
The Sydney Cup (Race 7) is Australia's second-best two-mile race – no embarrassment, given the Melbourne Cup's status as one of the world's great sporting events. Twenty horses will exit the gate, with 3-1 favorite Cleveland having to overcome one of the widest draws. Trained by Ireland's Joseph O'Brien, Cleveland closed encouragingly in his Australian debut when fifth at 1 1/2 miles in the G1 Tancred Stakes. King Frankel (7-1) and Arapaho (12-1) beat home Cleveland in the weight-for-age Tancred; all three will enjoy sizeable weight drops under the Cup's handicap conditions.
The powerhouse training combination of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace will saddle their winner and third-place finisher from last November's Melbourne Cup, Gold Trip (8-1) and High Emocean (10-1). Gold Trip is endeavoring to become just the fifth horse to win the Melbourne and Sydney Cups in the same season (both races were inaugurated in the 1860s). He will appreciate the anticipated softer conditions than in his prep races, but Gold Trip rises to 131 pounds after winning the Melbourne Cup with 126. He will concede 15-21 pounds to his aforementioned rivals, including stablemate High Emocean, who finished in similarly pleasing fashion to Cleveland in her final tune-up at 1-5/8 miles. O'Brien also trains 14-1 shot Baron Samedi, who won the 2021 G2 Belmont Gold Cup at two miles in the U.S.
The Australian Oaks (Race 6) features Pavitra (5-2), a daughter of American Pharoah who placed second in last November's G1 Victoria Oaks and in another Group 1 race two weeks ago. Pennyweka (4-1) is a $22,000 supplemental entry, after winning the G1 New Zealand Oaks at the same distance (1 1/2 miles) as its Sydney counterpart. Arts (7-1) has been the best supported runner since impressively landing a 25-1 upset in a Group 3 prep race, at only her third career start. Polygon (9-1) is another New Zealand-trained threat, with two Australian prep races under her belt.
The Queen of the Turf Stakes (Race 9) showcases fillies and mares at a mile. Enormous interest surrounds the Australian debut of Alcohol Free, who boasts Group 1 wins in England at 2, 3 and 4 years. Her most recent race was at Goodwood last summer, when third behind 10-for-11 superstar Baaeed and dual Breeders' Cup winner Modern Games. In November, she became the second-highest priced horse ever sold at a European auction, bringing approximately US$7.3 million. A name to which few Aussies could relate, Alcohol Free nonetheless heads the wagering at 5-2 after winning a recent “barrier trial” (training race).
The Randwick card will be broadcast live on FanDuel TV this Friday night (First Post: 9:40 p.m. ET / 6:40 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Newcastle, Doomben and Ascot. All races will be live-streamed in HD on the new Sky Racing World App, skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, and AmWager. Wagering is also available via these ADW platforms. Fans can get free access to live-streaming, past performances, and expert picks on all races at skyracingworld.com.
A native of Brisbane, Australia, Michael Wrona has called races in six countries. Michael's vast U.S. experience includes; race calling at Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park, Arlington and Santa Anita, calling the 2000 Preakness on a national radio network and the 2016 Breeders' Cup on the International simulcast network. Michael also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.
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