SYDNEY - For a gelding who has won seven of nine starts, there seems to be room for improvement from Briasa, who will start favored in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse on Friday night.
A 4-year-old in the Southern Hemisphere, Briasa had a breakthrough win at the Group 1 level in the $1.88 million T.J. Smith Stakes at six furlongs at Randwick on April 5, closing from fourth of 14 to win by a head.
The $955,500 All Aged Stakes at seven furlongs will be the longest start of Briasa’s career, and may suit his stalking style. Briasa won the Group 2 Hunter Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs at Newcastle Racecourse last November from off the pace.
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The All Aged Stakes drew a field of 14 and is the richest race on a 10-race program at Randwick that begins at 9:25 p.m. Eastern or 6:25 p.m. Pacific. The program includes the Group 1 Champagne Stakes for Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds at a mile.
Briasa was a 5-2 favorite in early betting as of Wednesday, with Broadsiding, Jimmysstar, and Joliestar all 6-1.
Broadsiding, the Australian champion 2-year-old for the 2023-24 season, has won 3 of 4 starts at seven furlongs in his career, including the Grade 2 Hobartville Stakes at Rosehill Gardens in his 2025 debut in February. A stalker, Broadsiding is a four-time Group 1 winner, including the 2024 Champagne and the Rosehill Guineas at 1 1/4 miles at Rosehill Gardens in his last start on March 22.
Joliestar won the Group 1 Newmarket Stakes at six furlongs at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne on March 8, but was only ninth in the Smith Stakes. Jimmysstar, who runs from off the pace, won the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate at 5 1/2 furlongs at Caulfield Racecourse on Feb. 22 in his 2024 debut and was fourth in the Smith Stakes, beaten 1 1/2 lengths.
Briasa is trained by John Hawkes and his sons Michael and Wayne, who could have a brilliant day at Randwick. They start Nepotism in the $637,000 Champagne Stakes, the colt’s third start since early March.
Nepotism, the 3-1 favorite in early betting, was third by a length at 40-1 in his debut in the Group 2 Todman Stakes at six furlongs at Randwick on March 8 and won the Group 3 Baillieu Stakes at seven furlongs at Rosehill Gardens on April 1, closing from seventh of 10.
In the Champagne Stakes, Nepotism is part of a field of 12 that includes Within the Law, who was a good third in the Group 2 Tempted Stakes at six furlongs at Randwick last weekend in her first start since jumping the inside rail in the opening furlongs of the Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes at Rosehill Gardens on March 22.
This will be the first start at a mile for Nepotism and Within the Law as well as for Buffalo, who was a fast-closing third in the Group 1 Inglis Sires Stakes at seven furlongs at Randwick on April 5.
The distance will suit the fascinating outsider Spicy Lu, a filly who led throughout the one-mile Fernhill Stakes at Randwick last weekend. Unbeaten in three starts, including two races against older horses at lower-level tracks, Spicy Lu set the pace in the Fernhill, the first time she has raced in that manner.
Spicy Lu and Within the Law are two of six fillies in the Champagne.
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