Explosive Jack looks to equal an Australian and American record for most Derby wins in a season (four) this Friday night in the Group 1 Queensland Derby at Eagle Farm racecourse. Tune in to TVG or stream on the new Sky Racing World App (First Post: 9:34 p.m. ET / 6:34 p.m. PT).
Explosive Jack is by the late Jakkalberry, a globetrotting G1 winner in Italy who won the inaugural American St. Leger at Arlington in 2012 (a race that was discontinued after six years). Jakkalberry also won in England and Dubai, competed in Japan and Hong Kong, and finished third in a Melbourne Cup.
Explosive Jack's Derby odyssey began in February, winning the Tasmanian Derby in Australia's island state. There is a quantum leap in quality from the Tasmanian Derby, which carries only listed status, to the G1 Australian Derby at Sydney's “The Championships.” However, Explosive Jack sprang a 15-1 photo finish upset at Randwick before dominating the G1 South Australian Derby in Adelaide three weeks ago. This was the first time in his eight-start career that Explosive Jack started favorite, and he will again carry the weight of public support (2-1) in his history-making endeavor this Friday night.
Only one horse – Dayana, in 1972, trained by the legendary Bart Cummings – has won four derbies in Australia. Explosive Jack would become the first to achieve the feat in four different states. Jay Privman, who attended his first Kentucky Derby in 1982 and has led Daily Racing Form's Triple Crown coverage since 1998, name a trio of American horses with four derby credits: Smarten (1979), Snow Chief (1986) and Lost Code (1987). Interestingly, none of those four-peats included the Kentucky Derby – indeed, Privman recalls trainer Woody Stephens specifically targeting Smarten at the Illinois, Pennsylvania, American and Ohio Derbies after an early-season encounter with Spectacular Bid caused him to alter plans for the year. Admittedly, there is no generational freak in the current crop of Australian 3-year-olds, but the fact that Explosive Jack boasts the Australian Derby win at Royal Randwick adds merit to his streak.
The Queensland Derby, at 1 1/2 miles, is the seventh of nine races and shares Friday night's G1 spotlight with the weight-for-age Kingsford Smith Cup, Race 8 at six and ahalf furlongs. Godolphin's royal blue silks will be carried by Savatiano (7-2) and Trekking (8-1), who bear many coincidences apart from their ownership. Both are 6-year-olds with similar career records: Savatiano 39:13-10-3; Trekking 35:10-6-4. Moreover, both are by Street Cry from a Redoubte's Choice mare. Street Cry enshrined himself in American and Australian breeding history through the deeds of daughters Zenyatta and Winx, while Redoubte's Choice has been Australia's most influential sire of this century. Savatiano, also a mare, comes off a photo finish win and a photo finish defeat at G1 level during Sydney's recent “Autumn Racing Carnival.” Trekking has netted $5 million in earnings throughout his career, and was beaten less than a length in Eduardo's G1 Doomben 10,000 two weeks ago. Godolphin's private trainer in Australia is James Cummings, grandson of the aforementioned Bart Cummings, one of the nation's most revered and successful trainers who won a record 12 Melbourne Cups.
If their breeding epitomizes the link between Australia and the United States, Savatiano and Trekking would be an appropriate exacta result in a race which honors Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. In 1928, the pioneering aviator made the first trans-Pacific flight – from Oakland, Calif., to his hometown of Brisbane, Australia. The journey (with an Australian co-pilot and two American crewmen) was completed in a slick 83 hours and 38 minutes of flying time, with stops in Hawaii and Fiji. Kingsford Smith's plane, the Southern Cross, is on display at Brisbane Airport – less than three miles from Eagle Farm (Doomben is situated between them). Also in 1928, another Queensland-born aviator, Bert Hinkler, landed his plane on Eagle Farm's home stretch – in between races, in front of a massive crowd – after a record-breaking solo flight from Britain to Australia.
The Eagle Farm card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (First Post: 9:34 p.m. ET / 6:34 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Randwick, Kembla Grange and Gold Coast. 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. He also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.
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