Australian horse racing picks for Royal Randwick

It’s shaping up to be an exceptional Friday night of racing from Down Under, with two Group 1 races as the feature events on an exciting nine-race card from Sydney’s premier course, Royal Randwick.

In addition to Randwick, TwinSpires horseplayers will also be able to watch and wager on racing from the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, and Newcastle.

The Group 1 action includes the weight-for-age Chipping Norton over a mile, and the Surround for 3-year-old fillies, contested over seven furlongs. Race 1 from Randwick is scheduled for 9:15 p.m. ET.

The good news for TwinSpires players is that Randwick is the Rest of the World Bet Back track for the evening, which means you can get up to $10 back if the horse you bet to win finishes second.

Here are a couple picks!

Race 3: #5 Four Moves Ahead

This two-year-old filly has a promising career ahead and was an impressive winner on debut at the start of the year. She has had a trial since and looked every bit the part.

Four Moves Ahead was scratched from the Silver Slipper (G2) at Rosehill last week but remains in the top 10 on betting for the Golden Slipper, the world’s richest race for two-year-old horses, run at Rosehill toward the end of March.

The daughter of leading sire Snitzel should get a nice run just off the speed from her post position, and I expect her to be too strong down the stretch.

There’s been a bit of rain around Sydney this week, and the soft track conditions will only help her chances.

Race 6: #6 Verry Elleegant

This looks a fantastic race and involves many of the horses that battled in the Apollo (G2) over seven furlongs a couple of weeks ago. On that occasion, Collette got the chocolates, and she will once again be one of the main chances tonight.

Things didn’t go to plan for Verry Elleegant in the Apollo, where she was slowly away and the race wasn’t run to suit her. Last year’s Caulfield Cup winner still managed to pick herself up and finish strongly for third.

With that run under her belt, it should be a different story tonight. The extra furlong suits her, as does the sting being out of the ground. She is a little on the short side in terms of the odds, at that 5/2 morning line quote, but I think she’ll get the job done.

Good luck!