Australian Racing: Prince ready to reign at Gunnedah

There are eight meetings set to take place on Sunday including at Gunnedah, where the main event is the Showcase Cup.

They also race at Ballarat, Hobart, Kalgoorlie, Mildura, Mount Gambier, Roebourne and Sunshine Coast.

Race 7 Gunnedah

Oakfield Prince @ 5.00

Race 8 Ballarat

Pennine Way @ 2.10

Race 8 Sunshine Coast

Metcalfe @ SP

Prince set to rule in Showcase Cup

A soft 5 track is expected for the previously mentioned Gunnedah meeting, with the feature race of the day the seventh race, the Showcase Cup.

High Dandy is expected to have his supporters, having recorded some fair efforts in defeat this prep.

Those runs include a sixth when beaten just under three-and-a-half-lengths in a 1600m Benchmark 72 handicap at Warwick Farm on his penultimate start.

Trained by Brad Widdup, he was beaten less than two-and-a-half-lengths despite finishing only eighth in a Benchmark 78 handicap at Scone subsequently.

The four-year-old raced over 1700m on that occasion and is chasing his third victory of the season, having won at both Hawkesbury and Canterbury in August.

Aaron Bullock’s mount OAKFIELD PRINCE is the pick here, however, having won two of his last three starts.

The first of those saw the seven-year-old win by a narrow margin when contesting a 1600m Benchmark 68 handicap at Wyong in March.

The 5.00 selection won on a heavy 8 track that day and he backed that effort up with a third in Wellington’s Showcase Cup over 1700m next time.

Kris Lees’ representative returned to a heavy track when getting home by a narrow margin in a 1500m Benchmark 68 handicap at Newcastle last month.

The gelding should have no issues with the quicker underfoot conditions expected here, having won on a soft 5 at Wyong back in November. 

The son of So You Think arrives here in good form and, having been freshened since his most recent win, looks up to securing his spot in November’s Big Dance with a win.

Way can record Ballarat win

The penultimate contest on Ballarat’s nine-race card is a Benchmark 70 handicap set to take place over 2000m.

Symon Wilde’s El James is a course and distance winner in the past, having saluted in a Benchmark 64 handicap here in November.

That success was the second leg of a treble, with that success sandwiched in between wins at Warrnambool.

The four-year-old was spelled following the second of those wins and he arrives here on the back of a fifth over 1700m at Warrnambool at the start of this month.

Prior to that the gelding had resumed with a surprise defeat when third of six in the 1600m Warracknabeal Cup at Warracknabeal last month.

Jordan Childs has won on the gelding in the past and the pair are expected to feature prominently in the betting here.

The Tony & Calvin McEvoy-trained PENNINE WAY is preferred in this event, however, having placed second in both starts since transferring from New Zealand.

The gelding, a maiden winner over 2100m at Ellerslie in December, lost out by a narrow margin in a 2000m Class 1 set weights event at Albury on his Australian debut.

The son of Adelaide was partnered by his jockey here Harry Coffey that day, with the pairing again in place when the pick finishing a close second over this course and distance.

The five-year-old has gone well when tracking the speed, as well as when ridden cold in the past, so he should have no issues jumping from barrier eight here.

The selection remains open to improvement on just his third start since he made the journey across the Tasman Sea and he is expected to record his second victory.

Metcalfe to claim Sunshine Coast finale

The final race at Sunshine Coast is an 1800m Benchmark 58 handicap expected to take place on a soft 7 track.

METCALFE takes the eye for the Annabel & Rob Archibald stable, having registered a promising first up effort at Ipswich earlier this month.

The three-year-old was beaten just over one-and-a-half-lengths into fourth, having jumped at $16 for the 1350m Class 2 set weights event.

The gelding was dropping markedly in distance for that event, having ended his last prep with a fifth in a 2100m event at Eagle Farm in December.

The pick is expected to have improved for his return to action and, stepping up in distance, he is taken to register a win under Jag Guthmann-Chester.