Australia Preview: Oscar Zulu to overcome delay

With TwinSpires offering its Rest Of The World BetBack every Friday night on all races from Sydney, Edge will be analyzing at least one race on the card each week.

Rosehill Race 8 - ATC Foundation Winter Challenge (Friday night 1:30 a.m. ET)

With the abandonment of last Friday’s races at Randwick after one race due to heavy rain, there are big fields throughout this weekend’s racing in Sydney.

The abandonment has meant the listed ATC Foundation Winter Challenge, run over 1,500 meters (about 7 1/2 furlongs), has been rescheduled for this week at Rosehill. The field from last week has mostly remained the same, with two notable exceptions: the 2021 All-Star Mile winner Mugatoo is not there, while a very strong prospect in #12 Cross Talk is now in the field.

Former French star #1 Gold Trip remains in the field, ready to make his Australian debut. Fourth in the 2020 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1), he was bought by Australian owners for a crack at the 1 1/4-mile Cox Plate (G1) last October, only to be controversially withdrawn on veterinary advice.

Now trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Gold Trip has a clear class advantage on most of his opponents here, but he is an unknown quantity at less than 1 1/4 miles and has to carry topweight of 61kg (about 134 pounds).

#9 Jojo Was A Man will be well supported after running into great form. He won consecutive starts June 11 and June 25 prior to finishing second to the in-form Taksu in the Winter S. July 9.

Fourth in the Winter was #6 Oscar Zulu, who finished 2 3/4 lengths behind Jojo Was A Man while conceding him 4kg (about 9 pounds). Because the presence of Gold Trip has compressed the weights in this race, Oscar Zulu and Jojo Was A Man will carry the same weight, and that weight turnaround is enough for me to predict Oscar Zulu can turn the tables.

However, the addition of Cross Talk will make this more interesting. He was beaten three-quarters of a length by Jojo Was A Man June 11 when conceding 2kg, and they are on level terms here.

Oscar Zulu’s stablemates #11 Toomuchtobear and #10 Durston can’t be ignored either, along with #8 Charleise, and #13 Snippy Fox. However, I’m going to stick with Oscar Zulu given his position at the weights.

• $10 win/$30 show: #6 Oscar Zulu
• $1 trifecta: 6, 9 with 6, 9, 12 with 1, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13

Other potential Bet-Back plays for Rosehill are #5 Yggdrasil in Race 4 and #14 Aramis in Race 7.

BONUS PLAY – NEW ZEALAND

Te Rapa, Race 6, Ryder S. (listed), 1,200 meters (about 6 furlongs)

• $10 win/$30 show, #7 Sophmaze: Handles wet ground and in great form. Hard to topple.