Tag: michael wrona

Australia: Alligator Blood Vs Funstar In $7.5 Million Golden Eagle

The culmination of Sydney's “The Everest Carnival” coincides with the start of the “Melbourne Cup Carnival” as racing riches abound in Australia's two biggest cities this Friday night. At Sydney's Rosehill Racecourse, the Golden Eagle's massive purse of $7.5 million will not just be distributed among owners, trainers and jockeys – in a noble gesture of community goodwill, 10% of the purse will be awarded to charities designated by the first five finishers.

At seven and a half furlongs for recently turned 4-year-olds (Aug. 1), the Golden Eagle was inaugurated last year as an incentive to keep horses in training beyond their 3-year-old season. This year's 18-horse field is quality-laden, headed by 4-1 favorite Funstar and the extremely popular Alligator Blood (6-1). Neither has won a race this campaign; Funstar comes off a second-place finish in the Epsom, the race that served as Kolding's springboard to victory last year while Alligator Blood finished a close second in the other key prep race – the Silver Eagle (watch replay).

Both horses will have to overcome wide gates, but this could be mitigated on a significantly rain-affected surface. The post position draw for the Golden Eagle was staged aboard a boat on Sydney Harbor, which may hold only slightly more water than Rosehill by the weekend! Funstar relishes all manner of wet tracks, while Alligator Blood won his only start on “soft” going but is untested in the “heavy” conditions that look certain to prevail on Friday night. The biggest beneficiary of this rainy week is Colette (7-1), one of a trio for Godolphin, whose stable representative labels Colette “a real swimmer, very, very fit and an absolute star.”

The Golden Eagle's infancy is contrasted by the history-steeped Group 1 Victoria Derby at Flemington, whose 1855 inauguration makes it 20 years older than its Kentucky counterpart. At 1 9/16 miles, the Victoria Derby is an arduous test just three months into the new Southern Hemisphere racing season. The 2020 renewal includes several well-fancied horses with little-to-no foundation from their 2-year-old season, the favorite being an extreme example. Young Werther (5-2) is a veteran of just two starts and hasn't raced beyond nine furlongs. He was scratched from a prep race due to a wet track, but is loaded with ability for last year's Melbourne Cup-winning trainer, Danny O'Brien.

Young Werther is one of four runners sired by Tavistock, whose influence will be keenly missed after the 14-year-old New Zealand stallion succumbed to laminitis last December. Tavistock has already sired a Victoria Derby winner but is best known for the exploits of Hong Kong champion, Werther. Young Werther's name might have been inspired by the Hong Kong horse, or by Goethe's 18th Century literary classic “The Sorrows of Young Werther” (which, coincidentally, I read earlier this year with no awareness of the Derby favorite, who debuted less than two months ago).

Flemington's Derby Day card is comprised entirely of Group races, including the “stallion-making” Coolmore Stakes (Race 6) down the famous “straight six” furlongs course. Race 4 is the last prep for Monday night's Melbourne Cup, while Race 2 is the final stepping stone to next Wednesday night's Victoria Oaks. The four-day “Melbourne Cup Carnival” concludes on Friday night of next week. Look for another article previewing Monday night's Melbourne Cup. Australia's leading trainer, Chris Waller, is seeking his first victory in “the race that stops a nation,” and will be represented by the outstanding staying mare Verry Elleegant and a well-performed son of Frankel, named Finche.

Whether Alligator Blood feels at home in swampy conditions, and whether supporters of Young Werther are left feeling sorrow, this Friday night will be rewarding for fans of top-flight global racing and for the charities that will benefit from horse racing's community outreach.

The Pick 7 wager this Friday night is available on the Flemington (AUS-A) card and there is a huge $10,000 guaranteed pool to celebrate. The Flemington and Rosehill cards will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (First Post: 8:40 PM ET / 5:40 PM 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.

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: Bondi Stakes To Shine At Randwick

The riches of Sydney's “Everest Carnival” continue this Friday night: for the equine participants in a million-dollar race for 3-year-olds, and for North American horseplayers with the 20c Pick 7 and a guaranteed pool of $10,000. Both are relatively new concepts: the Pick 7 was introduced just a couple of weeks ago with great success, while the $1 million Bondi Stakes (pronounced bond-eye) was inaugurated last year.

Australia's iconic Bondi Beach is curved and contained within a horseshoe-shaped bay, equidistant (just 4 miles) from downtown Sydney and Randwick Racecourse. “Royal Randwick” plays host to the Bondi Stakes, a one-mile assignment for recently turned 3-year-olds (Aug. 1) who are looking to improve upon their juvenile exploits and scale new heights.

My pick will hopefully be unperturbed by such aspirations: Acrophobic (which means “suffering from a fear of heights”) has attracted my attention through hints of ability combined with tinkering by his trainer John O'Shea with equipment and riding tactics. I fancied him two weeks ago at 9/1 when he finished fourth  – beaten only ¾ of a length – behind Peltzer and Prime Star at 7 1/2 furlongs in the Stan Fox Stakes. Acrophobic faces that pair in the Bondi once more, and is again behind them in the wagering, but I believe he can outrun both in the final furlong of a Randwick Mile.

The latest experiment by trainer John O'Shea is “winkers first time.” Winkers are a sheepskin device attached to the cheek-strap of a bridle, helping focus but allowing more peripheral vision than blinkers. Regardless of whether winkers are considered worthwhile in U.S. racing, there can be no denying the superior information that racing fans in Australia receive. As an example, a program notification in the U.S. of “Blinkers On” does not stipulate whether it's for the first time. The intricacies of equipment changes in Australia extend to tongue ties, shadow rolls, hoof fillers, ear muffs and various types of bits that are being applied or removed – always with a notation of whether it's for the “first time” or “again.” By contrast, American racing has only recently clamped down on the timely notification of first-time geldings!

Whether or not the application of “winkers first time” helps the prospects of Acrophobia (6/1), I'm prepared to single him in the Pick 7 against Peltzer (2/1) and Prime Star (3/1). The sequence spans Races 3-9 and includes races from six furlongs to 1-1/2 miles with an average field size of 11. Here is a suggested ticket:

Race 3 – 1, 2, 3

Race 4 – 1, 4, 5, 8

Race 5 – 1, 2, 3, 4

Race 6 – 3

Race 7 – 4, 5, 6, 8

Race 8 – 5, 6

Race 9 – 11

Cost: $76.80

A reminder that the Pick 7 wager is available via all major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, AmWager, and BetAmerica. The Randwick card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (First Post: 9:50pm ET / 6:50pm PT) alongside cards from Doomben, Kembla Grange 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.

Looking ahead to next Friday night's racing action, it is stacked with the running of the $7.5 million Golden Eagle for 4-year-olds at Rosehill racecourse and the commencement of the Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington (Derby Day). Future markets currently have Alligator Blood, Funstar and Bivouac at the top line of betting for the Golden Eagle and is a race that cannot be missed.

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: The World’s Best Turf Sprinters Ready For The Everest

In my new role as announcer at Los Alamitos Race Course, I marvel at the raw speed of Quarter Horses. The Thoroughbred equivalent will be on display at Randwick this Friday night, as Australia's elite sprinters contest the fourth running of The Everest. The world's richest turf race carries a purse of AU$15 million (US$10.8 million) and is part of a recently introduced Pick 7 wager that can be played for just 20c per combination and has a $10,000 pool guarantee this Friday night.

Although the two-mile Melbourne Cup is the nation's most famous race, Australia's forté is actually producing the world's best turf sprinters. While American fans are dubious of anything unproven on U.S. soil, the Breeders' Cup is poorly timed from the standpoint of Australia's rich “Spring Carnival.” However, Aussie sprinters have succeeded in other global arenas such as Royal Ascot, Dubai and Hong Kong. The Everest, at six furlongs, is framed around the concept of slot holders seeking deals with connections of the best available horses. In a flashy display of innovation and savvy marketing, the race that sports the name of the world's highest peak had its post position draw conducted on the glass-bottomed Sky Deck at the top of Sydney Tower (which dwarfs Seattle's Space Needle but is slightly smaller than America's tallest observation tower, the Stratosphere in Las Vegas).

Just as the Sydney Tower has a revolving restaurant, the race itself revolves around Nature Strip (7-2 equal favorite). Recently crowned Australian Horse of the Year for a trio of Group 1 wins in 2019/20, Nature Strip is currently tied for sixth in the Longines World's Best Racehorse rankings (with Almond Eye, Authentic, and Enable). However, Nature Strip's stock has slumped with two losses to begin his 6-year-old season.

As short as 3-2 in Future Book wagering for The Everest a month ago, the gelding exited his most recent defeat with mucus in his trachea. That followed his well publicized dumping of jockey James McDonald at the start of a training race, requiring a subsequent trial to the stewards' satisfaction. Nature Strip retains the confidence of both McDonald, who declares his coat “is definitely looking a bit better,” and trainer Chris Waller, whose vet is “very happy with his blood levels.”

Post positions are potentially important, as the best trip could well decide the outcome among so many top-caliber sprinters. Fortune has smiled upon Nature Strip, Classique Legend (7-2 equal favorite) and Gytrash (6-1), who have drawn adjacent gates in the middle of the field. However, the task of brilliant last-start winner Libertini (8-1) was complicated when the mare drew the extreme outside. Classique Legend was an untapped talent when an unlucky sixth in The Everest last year. More recently, the gray unleashed an electrifying burst to win off a layoff, then was trapped wide without cover when a creditable second.

Classique Legend is conditioned by 82-year-old Les Bridge, who hopes to cap a Melbourne Cup-winning career with a victory by what he considers the best horse he's trained. Adelaide-based Gytrash (pronounced gee-trah) has a 92-year-old part-owner named Valerie Gordon, who has been a racing fan for 84 years. Valerie would spend her share of one of the world's biggest purses “getting the house painted and getting a new bed … and I might get another horse.” Gytrash has been Australia's most consistent topline sprinter of the past twelve months, and won his prep race for The Everest at first asking the reverse way of going (right-handed).

Next in the betting is a massive equine specimen sporting an appropriate name. Behemoth (9-1) is one of horse racing's all-time bargain buys: the winner of $1.6 million was purchased as a yearling for a paltry $6,000. (Incongruously, he cost $120,000 a year earlier as a weanling!) Behemoth has won consecutive Group 1s in Melbourne at seven furlongs, but was unplaced in his only two Sydney races in the opposite (clockwise) direction.

In Behemoth's case, an inside gate (2) might not make for the most comfortable transit, and the distance cutback to six furlongs perhaps makes him worth risking when framing Pick-7 tickets. At longer odds, Trekking (16-1) holds appeal: the Godolphin sprinter, who finished third in this race last year, might appreciate being kept a bit fresher leading into the 2020 renewal … and would certainly be an aptly named winner of The Everest.

Here is a suggested ticket for the 20c Pick-7, which spans the final seven races on Friday's card:

Race 4 – # 1, 9

Race 5 – # 1, 5, 14

Race 6 – # 1, 4

Race 7 – # 1, 2, 3, 7

Race 8 – # 2

Race 9 – # 2, 3, 7, 10

Race 10 – # 1, 6

 

Total cost: $76.80

 

The Pick 7 wager is available via all major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, AmWager, and BetAmerica. The Randwick card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night with live crosses to Sky Racing World's Jason Witham trackside (First Post: 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT) . All races will also be live-streamed in HD with past performances available for free at skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms.

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: Randwick Stakes Racing Feast This Friday Night

If field sizes and wagering value are a beacon for horse players, two of Sydney's oldest and most prestigious races at Randwick are a prime attraction this Friday night. The Group 1 Epsom and Metropolitan Handicaps, each inaugurated in the 1860s, have drawn fields of 20 and 18 respectively. Yet, Friday's most anticipated race might be The Premiere Stakes, one of five supporting stakes on tonight's stellar card, as Nature Strip and Classique Legend clash in their final tune-up for the $15 million The Everest.

Sydney's leading trainer, Chris Waller, will saddle an incredible seven runners in the Epsom (G1). While post positions are not a huge impediment at the Randwick mile start, favoritism changed as a result of the draw and now rests with a Waller trainee who will break from the rail. Star of the Seas (4-1) finished third in last year's Epsom – one of four G1 minor placings in the past 12 months, at odds ranging from 11-1 to 30-1. The 6-year-old gelding is finally receiving the respect he deserves atop the market, and few would begrudge him a breakthrough at the elite level.

If there is such a thing as a race within a race, the fillies Probabeel (7-1) and Funstar (10-1) carry a terrific rivalry from their 3-year-old season into the Epsom as newly-turned 4-year-olds. The pair has met six times and share the honors (3-3) in head-to-head clashes. Appropriately, they will be neighbors in the starting gate (18 and 19, with Probabeel losing favoritism as a result). Probabeel and Funstar will be ridden by two of Australia's most accomplished jockeys, Kerrin McEvoy and Glen Boss respectively, who also share a 3-3 scoreline – in Melbourne Cup victories. By coincidence, they have also won the first three runnings of The Everest (McEvoy leads 2-1). Boss captured his first Epsom last year, a prize that has so far eluded McEvoy.

In Friday night's co-feature, Kerrin McEvoy will get a leg-up on the Metropolitan (G1) favorite, Mugatoo (9-5). Since arriving from England in the second half of 2019, Mugatoo has been a gradually growing force in the Australian staying ranks for respected trainer, Kris Lees. The gelded son of Henry the Navigator has won his past three races and is primed for this Group One test at 1-1/2 miles, with regular rider McEvoy declaring Mugatoo to be “the best he's been” in his Australian career. While Mugatoo appears one of the soundest investments on the card, Rondinella (15-1) is ticking over nicely and has been set for this specific target. The mare represents value beneath Rachel King, one of numerous talented female jockeys plying their trade Down Under.

McEvoy's strong book of rides extends to the final prep for The Everest, the world's richest turf race which is now just two weeks away. The Premiere Stakes (like The Everest, at six furlongs) pits a pair of prodigiously gifted sprinters against each other: Nature Strip (4/5) and Classique Legend (2-1). McEvoy rides the latter, a lightly raced gray who was third in last year's Premiere before an unlucky midfield finish in The Everest at just his seventh career start. Classique Legend's resumption from a layoff two weeks ago was breathtaking, as he unleashed a paralyzing burst once hooked into the clear by McEvoy.

Trainer Les Bridge is based at Randwick, where he was the youngest trainer when beginning his career as a 22-year-old – and is now the oldest resident trainer at 82. In the 1980s, Bridge trained the winner of a Golden Slipper (world's richest juvenile race) and a Melbourne Cup (two-mile handicap). The highly respected, veteran conditioner has no hesitation in declaring Classique Legend the best horse he's handled.

In the Premiere – as in the forthcoming The Everest – the horse to beat is Nature Strip, whose raw speed and immense talent are matched only by his enigmatic nature. In a recent “barrier trial” (training race), Nature Strip dumped rider James McDonald at the start and was ordered by stewards to trial satisfactorily before his entry for Friday's race would be accepted. Trainer Chris Waller fulfilled that obligation, but any appearance by Nature Strip creates anticipation on multiple levels: at his best, there is simply no turf sprinter on the planet capable of beating him, but his record of 24:14-3-0 shows that he's more likely to completely bomb than fill a minor placing — he is the epitome of equine “must-see TV.”

The Randwick card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (First Post: 10:25 p.m. ET / 7:25 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Eagle Farm and Gold Coast. All races will be live-streamed in HD on skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, AmWager, and BetAmerica. 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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