Top Easter racing fare from Australia, America and Hong Kong
There is plenty of very good horse racing on offer to punters via their TV screens this weekend. Of course, all wagering will have to be done online or on the phone.
The Telegraph of London described the result of the 2022 Grand National at the weekend as “one to swell the heart, not the wallet. Picture: iStock
Pizza-eating Nettoyer – who made headlines last weekend when she won and her trainer revealed the Aussie mare’s off-beat food preferences – is one of the star turns at a top-quality race meeting in Sydney on Saturday.
The horse with a mind of her own lines up in the 1600m Coolmore Legacy Stakes – one of four Grade 1 contests on the Randwick racecard – and she has a realistic chance of pulling off a quick double if jockey Glen Boss can lure her into the starting stalls with potato crisps.
Nettoyer is a 7-1 chance to do it, with the favourite Funstar (6-4) favoured by most tipsters Downunder.
Ex-South African jockey Glyn Schofield rides a previous winner of the race, Alizee (12-1), for trainer James Cummings and they will be going all out to put the sponsor’s nose out of joint. Alizee’s owner is Godolphin, the partnership of Dubai sheiks that are the arch rivals of Irish-based Coolmore.
There are further South African connections in another of the big races, the Sydney Cup, in the shape of two of this country’s leading owners, Bernard Kantor and Braam van Huysteen.
Kantor has the 6-4 race favourite Young Rascal competing in his famous yellow silks, which will be worn by UK expat jockey Tom Marquand for raiding Brit trainer William Haggas.
Van Huysteen is in a partnership that fields Raheem House at slightly longer odds of 10-1, with his trainer Kris Lees also saddling topweight Mustajeer (second favourite at 4-1).
The other two Grade 1s are the Australia Oaks, which Colette and Parabeel look likely to be the principal players, and the QE II Stakes, in which the Haggas/Marquand team look menacing with Addeybb.
It looks a pretty exciting card, with just one drawback – it all starts early in the morning. The first Tellytrack (channel 239) simulcast race is at 4.45am, with the first Grade 1 at 6.30am.
The Easter weekend got started with similarly early action from Downunder, but for the later-risers there is a better option from Florida in the US: Gulfstream Park from 7pm on Friday.
A little bird tells us that Take Charge Dude in Race 6 is the nap bet on that programme, with Carolyn’s Smile in Race 4 a decent option for another banker.
With dirt racing – as at Gulfstream Park – it’s vital to remember that capacity for early speed and an inside draw are major advantages.
Hong Kong’s Sha Tin course – which hosts Sunday’s international top-liner – is a very different proposition. The wide turf track with wide, sweeping bends is a galloping track where it is said the best horse usually wins.
A bit of a lie-in-form-study is possible as the first race is only at 10am.
As usual in the enclave, jockeys Joao Moreira and Zac Purton must be included in almost all bets – between them they have won half the races at Sha Tin this season.
Moreira has a couple of rides for South Africa’s own Douglas Whyte, who has had a more-than-decent debut season as a trainer and could pay to follow as he looks like running into hot form.
Happy Easter in lockdown.
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