michael wrona | Horse Racing Free Tips

Australia: With Sydney Carnival Reset, Golden Slipper And Five More Group 1s On Tap

Fans of Australian racing can wager with confidence on Friday night's rescheduled Golden Slipper (Group 1) card in Sydney, as drying conditions were expected across the second half of this week. And, if every cloud has a silver lining, the Rosehill program boasts even more star power after fields were redrawn for the four other G1 races on the card. The “Slipper” card is available to stream on the new Sky Racing World App and will be broadcast live on TVG (First Post: 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT).

Racetracks in three states have cancelled dozens of programs since late last week, with the biggest casualty being the postponement of last weekend's Golden Slipper, the world's richest 2-year-old race. The entire program has been transplanted on the calendar to this Friday night, pushing back each subsequent card for the duration of Sydney's “Autumn Racing Carnival.” (This means that “The Championships” at Randwick, a two-day Breeders' Cup-style event offering more than $21 million in purses, will now be staged on April 9 and 16). Only the Golden Slipper field remained intact, and the extra week has suited the schedule of several high-profile horses, whose inclusion in the “supporting” stakes races has further bolstered the program's appeal.

The G1 sequence begins with the Ranvet Stakes (Race 4). Quirky and intractable in her younger days, Verry Elleegant has furnished into a top-class professional athlete under the tutelage of Sydney's leading trainer, Chris Waller. The 5-year-old mare has won five G1 races in the past year, exhibiting tigerish tenacity to clinch four of them in heart-stopping photo finishes. Her ½-length loss to English stayer Addeybb in the 2020 Ranvet was the “Race of the Carnival,” and the pair will lock horns again Friday night in the weight-for-age contest at 1 1/4 miles. Each horse follows an identical preparation to last year, with Addeybb (even-money favorite) unraced since winning the G1 Champion Stakes at Ascot in October and Verry Elleegant (9-5) making her third start of the year.

Despite Rosehill's excellent drainage, the surface will still be in the “soft-to-heavy” range after being inundated with some 15 inches of rain. There are few racehorses in the world with a more pronounced preference for wet tracks than Colette (5-1), a Godolphin mare whose record on firm footing is 8:1-2-0 but who seemingly grows an extra leg — or flipper — on wet surfaces (6:5-1-0). The redrawn Ranvet field now also includes Sir Dragonet (13-1), who is struggling for form this campaign but gets race and surface conditions that resemble his triumph in last October's Cox Plate.

Race 5 is the Rosehill Guineas (G1) at 1 1/4 miles for 3-year-olds, a natural progression from the one-mile Randwick Guineas three weeks ago. Mo'unga is 5-2 favorite to turn the tables on Lion's Roar, after finishing a desperately unlucky second behind the 25-1 upset winner of the Randwick Guineas. Lion's Roar is 7-1 to repeat, and each colt has won his only start on a “heavy” track. Splitting them in the wagering are Montefilia and Grandslam (each at 6-1). Montefilia is a dual G1-winning filly who defeated colts – including Lion's Roar – at this distance last year. Grandslam is an addition to the original field who is coming off a six-length G2 win. He is a full-brother to elite staying mare Jameka, winner of the 2016 Caulfield Cup.

Race 6 is the George Ryder Stakes (G1), a weight-for-age race at 7 1/2 furlongs. Wagering is headed by 7-year-old Godolphin warhorse Avilius (3-1), an earner of $3.5 million who is two-for-two on “heavy” tracks. Avilius (whose damsire is Sunday Silence) hasn't won since 2019, but showed his old spark with a close third-place finish off a layoff.

Friday's final G1 race is the most open: The Galaxy (Race 8) is a handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs, boasting co-favorites at 4-1. The Waller-trained Haut Brion Her is primed to enhance her excellent record fresh, while Tailleur is a rapidly rising talent for Godolphin who has won six of eight starts.

The Rosehill card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (First Post: 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Doomben, Wyong and Gold Coast. All races will be livestreamed 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 livestreaming, past performances and expert picks on all races at skyracingworld.com.

A native of Brisbane, Australia, Michael Wrona has called races in six countries. Wrona'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. Wrona also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.

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Australia: Godolphin Primed For Golden Slipper At Rosehill

The world's richest race for 2-year-olds, the $3.5 million (AUD) Golden Slipper, is one of five Group One races on a superb program at Sydney's “Rosehill Gardens” this Friday night. The “Slipper” is carded as the seventh race and is available to stream on the new Sky Racing World App and will be broadcast live on TVG (First Post: 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT).

The Golden Slipper (six furlongs) is the first leg of a juvenile “triple crown,” staged at two-week intervals over increasing distances. The seven-furlong Sires' Produce is part of “The Championships” at Randwick, a two-day feast of racing early next month with purses exceeding $21 million (AUD). The one-mile Champagne Stakes will be run on April 16, closing day of Sydney's “Autumn Racing Carnival.”

I have witnessed one Golden Slipper, won by Inspired in 1984, when Darren Beadman became just the second jockey to win as an apprentice. In the ensuing 36 years, no “bug boy” has replicated the feat and Beadman – after a stellar career as a senior jockey – is now an assistant trainer and stable representative for Godolphin in Australia.

Godolphin swept the Slipper trifecta in 2019 and has two runners in this year's renewal: Ingratiating (16-1) and Anamoe (14-1). In a race with massive breeding implications, the Godolphin colts fly the U.S. flag as sons of Frosted and Street Boss, respectively. Ingratiating became the first stakes winner worldwide for new sire, Frosted, while Street Boss is a longtime shuttle stallion enjoying an excellent season Down Under. Anamoe's American connection extends to his dam, Anamato, a G1-winning filly in Australia whose trainer, David Hayes, brought her to Hollywood Park for a third-place finish in the 2007 American Oaks.

Anamoe brings a powerful formline into the Golden Slipper, upsetting the season's hottest juvenile race two weeks ago – a day on which nine of the past ten Slipper winners have competed. Of two prep races that afternoon, the Todman Slipper Trial for colts and geldings – named after the Golden Slipper's inaugural winner in 1957 – was a highly anticipated showdown between undefeated colts Profiteer and Stay Inside. Anamoe stole the show, yet is again ranked a relative outcast at double-digit odds this Friday night. The reason is two-fold: he enjoyed a perfect trip in the Todman, but has been dealt the extreme outside post position (16) in the Golden Slipper. Conversely, circumstances conspired against both Profiteer and Stay Inside, who lost no luster in the eyes of their respective camps. Both have drawn favorably and share Slipper favoritism at 3-1.

As Godolphin aims for a second Golden Slipper, trainer Chris Waller will attempt to remove a proverbial monkey from his back. Sydney's perennial leading conditioner has amassed 119 Group One wins, but a scant three have come in juvenile races. Only five 2-year-olds have previously represented Waller in the Golden Slipper, without finishing on the board (his most recent pair blossomed as 3-year-olds: Yes Yes Yes winning The Everest and Hungry Heart claiming last week's Phar Lap Stakes). Waller acknowledges the perception that preparing 2-year-olds is his “Achilles heel,” but believes that “in time we will get a Golden Slipper on the mantelpiece.”

To that end, his juvenile team has accounted for numerous stakes races so far (in a Southern Hemisphere season that began in August). Waller's biggest numerical assault on the Slipper comprises Shaquero (25-1), Home Affairs (16-1) and O'president (17-1). While the best racehorse names are lauded for their ingenuity (Profiteer is by Capitalist; Ingratiating is out of Obsequious), none is more eyebrow-raising than O'president, whose dam is O'marilyn.

Two hours before the Golden Slipper is run and won, an example of Chris Waller's prowess with maturing horses will be displayed in a marquee renewal of the G1 Ranvet Stakes (Race 4). Quirky and intractable in her younger days, Verry Elleegant has furnished into a top-class professional athlete under Waller's tutelage. The 5-year-old mare has won five Group One races in the past year, exhibiting tigerish tenacity to clinch four of them in heart-stopping photo finishes. Her ½-length loss to English stayer Addeybb in the 2020 Ranvet was the “Race of the Carnival,” and the pair will lock horns again Friday night in the weight-for-age contest at 1 1/4 miles. Each horse follows an identical preparation to last year, with Addeybb (4-5 favorite) unraced since winning the G1 Champion Stakes at Ascot in October and Verry Elleegant (6-5) making her third start of the year.

Friday's other Group One races are the Rosehill Guineas (R5, 1 1/4 miles for 3-year-olds), the George Ryder Stakes (R6, 7.5 furlongs at weight-for-age) and The Galaxy (R8, 5.5 furlongs under handicap conditions). Although predicted rain leading up to last Friday night's card did not eventuate, Sydney is being deluged this week and a “heavy” surface is inevitable.

The Rosehill card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (First Post: 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Eagle Farm, Goulburn 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. Wrona'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. Wrona also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.

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Australia: Reigning Horses Of The Year Melody Belle and Nature Strip At Flemington

Two reigning Horses of the Year headline a pair of excellent Group 1 races in Melbourne, while early season 2-year-olds are “gifted” a million-dollar purse in Sydney this Friday night. The fourth and final day of the “Melbourne Cup Carnival” at Flemington coincides with Rosehill's $1,000,000 Golden Gift, as both cards wedge neatly between the Breeders' Cup programs in the U.S. With some large Trifecta and Pick 4 pay outs on Melbourne Cup Day, handicappers will be looking to build their bank in Australia on Friday night.

Melody Belle, recently crowned New Zealand Horse of the Year for the second straight season, has taken her incredible tally of G1 wins to 12 with victories in the same pair of races that preceded her successful mission to Australia last November. In 2019, Melody Belle won a G1 for fillies and mares on the opening day of the “Melbourne Cup Carnival,” before a gallant runner-up effort a week later. This year, connections skipped the first of those races and have specifically targeted this Friday night's Mackinnon Stakes.

The 6-year-old brings a superb 17-for-34 career record back to Melbourne, as she seeks redemption for an unlucky second place finish to Aidan O'Brien's globetrotting filly, Magic Wand. Melody Belle (4-1) will be ridden for the first time by 25-year-old Jye McNeil, fresh off his career-defining win for Joseph O'Brien in Monday night's Melbourne Cup (at odds that matched his age). The Mackinnon Stakes (Race 8) is a weight-for-age contest at 1 1/4 miles, almost identical conditions to the prestigious W.S. Cox Plate. Thus, it is not surprising that Melody Belle's stiffest opposition is expected from Mugatoo (4-1) and Arcadia Queen (3-1 favorite), based on their respective fourth and fifth-place finishes in the Cox Plate two weeks ago.

Two races prior to the Mackinnon, Australia's Horse of the Year for the 2019-20 season will be in action in the G1 Darley Classic. Nature Strip returns to Flemington's iconic “straight six” furlongs course, and will try to replicate the most exhilarating performance of a career punctuated by perplexing losses. Australian racing's biggest enigma has now lost three straight races for the first time, yet nobody who witnessed his scintillating performance in this event last year will be brave enough to write him off. As in 2019, Nature Strip finished off the board (his usual modus operandi if not getting his picture taken) in The Everest, before returning from Sydney for the Darley Classic. If his career record of 26,14-3-0 leaves one flummoxed as to which version will appear next, it is worth bearing in mind that the 6-year-old's record down the Flemington straight course is four-for-five (and two-for-two at six furlongs).

Nature Strip shares favoritism at 3-1 with another G1 winner down Flemington's straight course, Bivouac, who comes off a terrific second in The Everest. Further opposition exiting the world's richest turf race is expected from the mare, Libertini, who was heavily bet (8-1 into 5-1) in The Everest but had no luck from the extreme outside gate. Both Bivouac and Libertini contested The Everest second up and are still fresh into their current campaigns. Coincidentally, they finished in the minor placings in the same G1 race (for 3-year-olds) down the Flemington straight during last year's Melbourne Cup Carnival.

While Melbourne holds the Friday night spotlight, Sydney's Rosehill Racecourse will be the scene of an exciting addition to Australia's rich program of juvenile races. The Southern Hemisphere racing season began on Aug. 1 and the first 2-year-old races were run only a month ago, yet an early carrot is being dangled for connections of the most precocious juveniles. The Golden Gift, at 5 1/2 furlongs, carries a purse of $1,000,000. The China Horse Club owns a pair of debut stakes winners, Captivant (3-1 favorite) and Tiger of Malay (7-1). Last year's inaugural Golden Gift winner, Dame Giselle (a subsequent multiple stakes winner), is part-owned by the China Horse Club and came through the same debut race as Tiger of Malay. It's unusual to see 2-year-olds traveling interstate this early in the season, but the lucrative purse sees both Sneaky Five (9-2) and Ghostwriter (10-1) being whisked to Sydney after scoring debut wins in Melbourne and Brisbane, respectively. The race includes three first-time starters, and North American fans will be intrigued by a Chris Waller-trained son of American Pharoah named Head of State (14-1), who has won both of his trials (“training races”). A G2 event for fillies and mares follows the Golden Gift on the Rosehill card.

The Flemington and Rosehill cards will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (First Post: 10:25 p.m. ET / 7:25 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Doomben and Gold Coast. All races will also be live-streamed in HD with past performances available for free at skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms. Wagering is available via all the major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, AmWager, and BetAmerica. The Pick 7 wager is available on the Flemington (AUS-A) card.

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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Australia: Melbourne Cup, The Race That Restarts A Nation

The Melbourne Cup, one of the great horse races on the planet – and probably the greatest cultural event in global racing – will be staged this Monday night (Post Time: 11:00 p.m. ET / 8:00 p.m. PT). Long referred to as “the race that stops a nation,” the Cup has famously brought sessions of parliament to a halt. However, as its host city emerges from one of the world's strictest lockdowns, this year's renewal might be more accurately referred to as “the race that restarts a nation.”

Melbourne has been the country's coronavirus hotspot, with a stringent lockdown of almost four months being eased just in the past week. While still unable to attend the races, the public is simply rejoicing in the newly found freedom to visit a pub or enter a TAB (the vast network of off-track wagering facilities, many of which are now contained within pubs – allowing the confluence of two great Aussie pastimes!).

While Flemington Racecourse won't play host to fans, it will welcome eight European horses as part of the 24-strong field competing for an $8 million purse. In a wide-open betting market – even by Melbourne Cup standards – wagering is headed by a trio of Euros. When rain delivered his preferred soft going, Irish import Sir Dragonet landed a betting plunge (12-1 into 6-1) winning the W.S. Cox Plate in his Australian debut. The Cox Plate is a highly prestigious weight-for-age race at 1 1/4 miles, in stark contrast to the two-mile Melbourne Cup under handicap conditions. Jockey Glen Boss, who became part of Melbourne Cup folklore aboard the race's only three-time winner, Makybe Diva, declared that Sir Dragonet (9-1) can capture the Cox Plate – Melbourne Cup double (last achieved, coincidentally, by Makybe Diva in 2005). However, Monday night's firmer footing might be a bigger issue than the race's conditions.

The other Europeans vying for favoritism share two impressive common denominators: the blood of Galileo and the conditioning of Aiden O'Brien. Tiger Moth (8-1) was narrowly beaten in this year's Irish Derby and will be making just his fifth career start. The race's 129-pound highweight is Anthony Van Dyck (7-1), who won the 2019 English Derby and finished third in the Breeders' Cup Turf. Anthony Van Dyck was an excellent second in his Australian debut and could provide a first Melbourne Cup win for Hugh Bowman, regular rider of the great Winx. Similarly, the Cup has eluded Winx's trainer, Chris Waller. Another mare would become Waller's second most famous horse, if Verry Elleegant (12-1) can replicate her victory over Anthony Van Dyck in the traditional prep race, the Caulfield Cup. Waller is also represented by a son of Frankel named Finche (17-1), who has performed consistently at the highest level in Australia since being imported two years ago. Finche has finished on the heels of the placegetters in the past two Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

As racing has become globalized, Australian horses have struggled to withstand the avalanche of international runners. Vow and Declare bucked the trend last year, becoming the first Aussie winner since 2009. Vow and Declare has lost form and is a 60-1 shot to repeat, but last year's winning rider, Craig Williams, has partnered with another Australian horse in Surprise Baby – whose sire happens to be that 2009 Australian-bred winner, Shocking. Surprise Baby was fifth in last year's Melbourne Cup, beaten just a length in a blanket finish, and has strong claims again at 9-1. While Vow and Declare is unlikely to repeat, his trainer Danny O'Brien also has Russian Camelot (12-1) coming off a third-place finish in the Cox Plate (he and Cox Plate winner, Sir Dragonet, are both sired by 2012 English and Irish Derby winner, Camelot).

Three jockeys – Glen Boss (Sir Dragonet), Kerrin McEvoy (Tiger Moth) and Damien Oliver (Russian Camelot) – have three wins in the great race and would equal the all-time record with one more triumph. Also of interest in the riding ranks is Jamie Kah, who currently leads the Melbourne jockey standings. Kah will have her first mount in the Cup and first ride on Prince of Arran (11-1). Her Melbourne Cup inexperience is balanced by the hardy 8-year-old gelding, who has finished second and thirdin the past two Melbourne Cups. Kah seeks to emulate Michelle Payne, who rode through the gender barrier in 2015 on 100-1 winner Prince of Penzance. Longshots abound throughout Melbourne Cup history and the strike rate of favorites is a meager 21%, so play your fancy and enjoy the spectacular spectacle.

The Flemington card will be broadcast on TVG this Monday night (First Post: 6:45 p.m. ET / 3:45 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Randwick, Doomben and Ascot. All races will also be live-streamed in HD with past performances available for free at skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms. The new Pick 7 wager is available on the Flemington (AUS-A) card across races 4-10. Wagering is available via all the major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, AmWager, and BetAmerica.

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