Australian racing picks for Eagle Farm and Royal Randwick

It’s an exciting time of year for racing Down Under, as the good horses return from breaks and commence their campaigns toward some of the big spring races.

The feature race tonight is the Up & Coming Stakes (G3) at Royal Randwick in Sydney. Plenty of other quality horses will make their return in other races, including Masked Crusader, who will start at odds-on in Race 3, and is currently a 14-1 chance for Sydney’s big spring race, The Everest.

Racing at Randwick tonight will be on a heavy track. It’s a different story further north in Brisbane, where racing will be on a good track at Eagle Farm.

Here are a couple picks to get your night of Aussie racing action underway.

Eagle Farm, Race 1: #6 Joymaker

It’s a competitive race to kick off proceedings at one of Brisbane’s premier tracks, and I like the chances of Joymaker.

The Kelly Schweida-trained mare got too far back to make an impact in her last start, but if you go back two runs, she hit the line strongly over 1,800 meters at Eagle Farm.

The extra distance tonight should really suit her, and veteran Brisbane jockey Jim Byrne sticks.

Randwick, Race 4: #9 Torun

This lightly raced colt from the barn of Joseph Pride has only made one start, and what a run it was!

The son of Medgalia D’Oro could not have been more impressive when he won on debut at Hawkesbury, where he put the field away inside the final furlong and crossed the post four lengths clear, eased down.

Tonight’s competition is harder, but he certainly looks up to the task. He has also already shown us he can handle a heavy track.

That’s it for Friday-night picks, but if you’re having a bet on Australian racing Saturday night, I like #4 Special Moment in the first race at Devonport.

Have a great weekend!