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Australia: World’s Best Sprinter Nature Strip Returns At Randwick Friday

The Shorts (G2) – Key Prep for The Everest: Race 8 is a barn-burning renewal of a Group Two sprint named The Shorts, whose nine entrants boast a collective 76 wins from 165 starts. It features no fewer than six confirmed runners for The Everest, the world's richest race on turf, which will be run at Randwick on October 15. The Everest (6 furlongs) has a slot-holder format, and the following entrants for The Shorts (5-1/2 furlongs) have guaranteed berths in The Everest:

#1 Nature Strip (3-2 fav.) was Horse of the Year in the 2019/20 season and is currently the world's highest-ranked sprinter. In his 7-year-old debut two weeks ago, he blistered the last three furlongs in 32.62 seconds, winning a G3 five-furlong race.

#2 Eduardo (7-1), #3 Gytrash (13-1), #4 Masked Crusader (7-2) and #5 Rothfire (9-2) are all Group One winners.

#7 Lost and Running (6-1) has raced only seven times and never at Group level, but created a huge impression while progressing through restricted grades earlier this year.

Early Market Mover: Race 8 #5 Rothfire has been sidelined for a year since sustaining a potentially career-ending injury, when favorite and looking the likely winner mid-stretch of a Group One race. His morning works have been so electric that he was recently “bought” by a slot-holder for The Everest. As much as 7-1 was offered early this week for The Shorts, and Rothfire has been bet down to 9-2 to complete a fairytale comeback this Friday night.

Feature Race: The George Main Stakes, Race 7 at Royal Randwick in Sydney. The George Main is a one-mile Group One race at weight-for-age. Winx set the stakes record of 1.33.65 in 2017, when winning her second of three George Mains.

Star Performer: #7 Verry Elleegant (6-5 favorite). Australia's Horse of the Year for the 2020/21 season made her 6-year-old debut with an excellent 2nd-place finish in the G1 Winx Stakes, at seven furlongs, four weeks ago.

Hold All Tickets: Verry Elleegant has followed the same path from the Winx Stakes the past two years, and failed to win the George Main both times (as favorite last year). In both campaigns, she peaked in the following race of the form cycle when stepping up to 1-1/4miles.

Alternatives:

#1 Kolding (7-1) owns two G1 wins at the Randwick Mile when making his 3rd start from a layoff – including last year's George Main at 9-1. However, he might have “lost a step.” Kolding and Verry Elleegant are both trained by Chris Waller, of Winx fame.

#2 Think It Over (5-1) arrived in the last breath to win a G2 at the Randwick Mile two weeks ago. He might be looking for more distance.

#3 Cascadian (7-1) started favorite when 4th behind Think It Over. Peaked 3rd-up last campaign to win a G1 at the Randwick Mile.

Blowout: #6 Lion's Roar (40-1) did nothing off a layoff, but is 2-for-2 when 2nd-up. Both wins were at a mile – the latest in the G1 Randwick Guineas, at 20-1, when beating subsequent dual-G1 winner Mo'unga.

Selections: 3 Cascadian; 7 Verry Elleegant; 6 Lion's Roar

The Randwick card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (First Post: 9:40pm ET / 6:40pm PT) alongside cards from Kembla Grange, Gold Coast and Eagle Farm. 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.

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Nature Strip Takes Over As World’s Highest Rated

Australian sprinter Nature Strip (Aus) (Nicconi {Aus}) has overtaken G1 Dubai Sheema Classic and Saudi Cup winner Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) and G1 Dubai World Cup victor Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) as the highest-rated horse on the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings, having been assigned a mark of 123 for his victory in the G1 TJ Smith S. on Apr. 10. Mishriff and Mystic Guide now sit a joint second at 122.

Just trailing in their wake on 121 are Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), Eduardo (Aus) (Host {Chi}) and Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}). Eduardo was third behind Nature Strip in the TJ Smith, while Addeybb defended his title in the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. on the second day of The Championships a week later. Last year's European champion 3-year-old Palace Pier issued an ominous signal to his opponents with an eight-length first-up score in the G2 bet365 Mile on Apr. 23.

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Saudi Cup Winner Mishriff Tops World’s Best Racehorse Rankings; Life Is Good Highest-Rated 3-Year-Old

In his first start of the year, Mishriff (IRE) [122] won the Saudi Cup, and the Great Britain-based 4-year-colt leads the first edition of the LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings for 2021 as a result.

LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings Leading Horses click here for complete rankings
Rank	Horse	Rating	Trained
1	MISHRIFF (IRE)	122	GB
2	NATURE STRIP (AUS)	121	AUS
3	CHARLATAN (USA)	120	USA
3	EXULTANT (IRE)	120	HK
3	GOLDEN SIXTY (AUS)	120	HK
6	KNICKS GO (USA)	119	USA
6	LIFE IS GOOD (USA)	119	USA
6	RAINBOW BRIDGE (SAF)	119	SAF

Mishriff posted a one length victory in the Saudi Cup over Charlatan [120], who was also making his first start of 2021. Last year, Mishriff's biggest score came when he won the Prix du Jockey Club (G1) in France.

Australia's Nature Strip (AUS) [121] is the second highest rated horse in the first edition of the rankings for 2021 after his half-length win in the Black Caviar Lightning (G1) in February, which served as the multiple Group 1 winner's first start of the season.

In co-third, along with Charlatan, are Hong Kong-based runners Exultant [120] and Golden Sixty (AUS) [120]. Golden Sixty, who has now won 13 races in a row, took the Stewards' Cup (G1) in January over Southern Legend [118] and Ka Ying Star [117], and he beat Furore [117] and Exultant in the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (G1) in February. Exultant came into that race having finished second in the Centenary Vase (G3) while carrying 133lbs.

Three horses sit in the co-sixth position as well. America's Knicks Go [119], who finished fourth in the Saudi Cup, started his 2021 campaign with a 2 ¾-length victory in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1), while undefeated Life Is Good [119] is the highest rated 3-year-old thus far after winning the San Felipe Stakes (G2) by eight lengths.

In South Africa, Rainbow Bridge [119] added to his list of accomplishments by taking the Cape Town Met presented by Cape Racing (G1) in January by 1 ¾ lengths.

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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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