Horse Racing

Godolphin’s Equipage attracts star billing at Kembla Grange meeting

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All eyes will be on Godolphin galloper Equipage at Kembla Grange on Thursday, with the gelding set to break through for a victory in a three-year-old maiden plate over 1400 metres.

Punters quickly snapped up the early price offered about the improving filly, and she has been heavily backed into outright favouritism.

Equipage trainer James Cummings (right).Credit: Getty

The three-year-old profiles well for this event with a positive race setup and is ready to peak third-up.

She had too much to do last start at Newcastle 23 days ago after being restrained from a wide draw and getting too far back.

To her credit, she had to make a long, sustained sprint, making up significant ground and clocking some of the meeting’s fastest closing splits.

Further, that race rated exceptionally well relative to the day, and the margins throughout confirmed the quality of the race.

The James Cummings-trained galloper can improve significantly here, and with the critical barrier change, she can settle much closer to the front.

In addition, Tommy Berry rides for the first time. Expect her to be hard to hold out with even luck.

Keeping Equipage on his toes is the Chris Waller-trained Tellez, who enters the race with a starting price edge.

The three-year-old had every chance first-up, and he loomed to win but just peaked on his run, indicating he’ll strip fitter from that outing.

The duo are set for an exciting battle and expect the form from this race to hold up in the future.

Meanwhile, four-year-old mare Dear Jewel will look to bounce back after having multiple excuses in her first-up run at Canterbury.

The Hawkes-trained galloper lines up in a benchmark 64 handicap and drops in grade.

She had to exert too much energy when resuming in the middle sections of a race and then had her momentum completely haltered over the concluding stages.

Expect her to improve sharply back on dry ground where she produces all her peak figures and maps to have all favours from the inside draw.

Main danger, Vomo Island, went to a new level as a gelding first-up and can make it back-to-back wins, stepping out to 1400m.

Best Bets
Race 5, No.9 – Equipage
Race 6, No.5 – Dear Jewel

Best Value
Race 4, No.6 – Cohesive

Supplied by Racing NSW
Full form and race replays available at racingnsw.com.au

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