Australia: Moira faces a strong field in Doncaster Mile

Moira will become the first Breeders’ Cup winner to contest The Championships at Randwick, when the Eclipse Award-winning mare takes on males in Friday night’s Doncaster Mile.

Spanning two Friday nights and offering more than US$16 million in purses, The Championships are Australia’s equivalent of the Breeders’ Cup. Befittingly, three horses from the 2024 Breeders’ Cup will tackle the Doncaster Mile, a Group 1 handicap, as Moira is joined by three-time Grade 1-winning mare Anisette and Japan’s Geoglyph, who was fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Mile.

In a shuffle-up of elite global jockeys, Ryan Moore will ride at Royal Randwick as James McDonald partners Romantic Warrior in the Dubai Turf (G1) on the World Cup card at Meydan.

FanDuel TV’s Andrew “Dubbs” Anderson will join Sky Racing World’s Jason Witham for live trackside coverage of The Championships. Yours truly will be in the FanDuel TV studio, while Hipica TV’s YouTube platform will live-stream for the enjoyment of Spanish-speaking fans. Friday night’s Randwick card, featuring four Group 1 races among nine graded stakes, begins at 9:25 p.m. EDT, 6:25 PDT.

Moira and Anisette both are in the barn of Chris Waller, Sydney’s champion trainer of the past 14 seasons.

Moira, formerly trained by Kevin Attard, won a stakes race in her 2021 career debut. Signature victories in 2022 were both noteworthy. She won the Woodbine Oaks by more than 10 lengths without wearing hind shoes then broke Woodbine’s track record for 1 1/4 miles in the Queen’s Plate. Moira was Canada's horse of the year for 2022.

After her triumph in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, she was sold for US$4.3 million to racing and breeding juggernaut Yulong Investments. She subsequently won the Eclipse Award as 2024’s champion turf female.

Named after a character in the hit Canadian sitcom "Schitt’s Creek," won’t Moira won't need a paddle on Friday. Randwick is drying out after rain forced the postponement of last week’s Sydney card at Rosehill.

Anisette, formerly trained by Leonard Powell won the 2023 Del Mar Oaks and American Oaks, and the 2024 Gamely made a trio of Grade 1 victories.

She finished ninth behind Moira at the Breeders’ Cup and also was purchased by Yulong last November, for $1.4 million.

Jockeys

Zac Purton returns to his native Australia to ride Moira. Based in Hong Kong for 18 years, Purton has won seven riding titles and recently broke the all-time record for most wins in Hong Kong.

Purton is the regular rider of sprint sensation Ka Ying Rising, winner of 11 straight races at Sha Tin and current future book favorite for The Everest,  the world’s richest turf race, to be run at Randwick in October. Purton has also been booked for Strada Varenna, one of the top chances in Friday night’s first race, a Group 3 event for 2-year-olds at 5 1/2 furlongs.

Ryan Moore has been called upon by Coolmore, in the absence of James McDonald, to partner a pair of extremely valuable stallion prospects. Wodeton, narrowly beaten in the Golden Slipper, the world’s richest 2-year-old race, steps up to seven furlongs in the Sires’ Produce Stakes (G1), race 6. Three-year-old colt Switzerland takes on elders in the TJ Smith Stakes (G1) at six furlongs in race 7. England’s superstar jockey was also snapped up by British trainer William Haggas to ride Desert Hero, who will carry the royal silks when making his Australian debut in Race 3, a Group 2 at 1 5/8 miles. Moore caps off the card aboard favorite Clean Energy in race 10, a Group 3 for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs.

Hugh Bowman, of Winx fame, returns from his Hong Kong base of the last two years to again partner Rivellino in a Sires’ Produce rematch with Wodeton, following an unlucky, fast-finishing fourth in the Golden Slipper.

Breeding

American Pharoah will achieve a remarkable feat if Goldrush Guru wins the Australian Derby (G1, race 9) at 1 1/2 miles. The nation’s two most prestigious derbies, the Victoria Derby at Flemington in November and the Australian Derby, both were won last season by Riff Rocket, a son of the U.S. Triple Crown winner. Goldrush Guru is seeking the same double, having already pocketed the Victoria Derby. The Australian season runs from August to July, so the Victoria Derby comes first. Goldrush Guru is by American Pharoah out of a Medaglia d’Oro dam who was Grace 2-placed at 1 1/4 miles.

Horse Racing Nation coverage of The Championships in Australia is made possible in part through a sponsorship by Sky Racing World.