Tonight’s Track:  Royal Randwick (near Sydney)

Expected ground:  “Soft 6” (softer than good ground)

Note:  I am unable to download the Australian PPs I use to make selections tonight, so I am employing video replays from racingnsw.com.au.

Royal Randwick – Race 1A  (9:10 PM Eastern, 8:10 PM Central, 6:10 PM Pacific) 2yo 7 furlongs set weights, Purse AUD $100,000  Picks:  7-5-3-2

#7 ICON OF DUBAI (5/1) was extremely wide and had to make a premature move to get position.  Well bred for the distance, maybe he can turn the tables tonight.  #3 Sambro (3/1) and #3 Padraig (8/1) also ran well in Icon of Dubai’s last race, but Sambro got a soft trip near the lead and Padraig was able to save a lot of ground once he got to the front.  #5 Lord Cecil (5/1) is the fresh face. He has already tried $125,000 stakes company on the Gold Coast at 6 furlongs.  He may do better at 7 furlongs, being a son of Animal Kingdom.  He is in his first Australian crop of runners.

Royal Randwick – Race 6A  (12:20 AM Saturday Eastern, 11:20 PM Central, 9:20 PM Pacific) 3up 6 furlongs BenchMark 78 handicap, Purse AUD $100,000  Picks: 2-12-10

#2 HEAVENLY ANNA (3/1) has really good HEAVY track form (2 wins), and the ground at Randwick is a Soft 6 tonight so maybe that will help.  She also drops from a tough Group 3 on GOOD ground (similar to firm in the USA) at Scone into a very weak BM78 race, a level she has already won.  She is allowed to race tonight because an APPRENTICE jockey (read: not as good as a journeyman) gets to claim nearly 7 pounds off and that qualifies her to enter.  #12 In Times of War (6/1) and #10 Sisken (10/1) are in good form but have yet to run a competitive race at this level.