Australian racing picks for Newcastle

It’s a huge week for racing Down Under, with attention turning to Sydney’s Royal Randwick this Saturday, for Day 1 of The Championships. Run over two consecutive Saturdays, The Championships feature the best of the best of Australia’s horses competing for Grade 1 glory and huge prize money.

To get us in the mood, two New South Wales tracks are featured on BetAmerica’s schedule tonight. Newcastle, about a two-hour drive north of Sydney, kicks off an 11-race card at 9.05 p.m. ET, while Grafton, which is not far from the Queensland border, has nine races starting at 10 p.m. ET.

Kick back on your sofa and follow along with these picks!

Newcastle, Race 3: #4 Unamerican

This gelding, by North American sire and 2010 Melbourne Cup (G1) winner Americain, was his own worst enemy last start, when he over raced. He was wearing blinkers for the first time, and the gear change had him fired up from the time he left the gates. Still, he managed to stick on strongly and finished within three lengths of the winner.

Unamerican will race without the blinkers tonight and gain a cross-over nose band for the first time. This should settle him down, and the step up in trip is also likely to play in his favor. At 11-4 on the morning line, he will get the job done.

Grafton, Race 3: #1 Ready To Humble

This 4-year-old returns from a break as a gelding and has showed a lot of promise in two recent trial runs, where he placed first and third.

Tonight’s task is a much easier assignment, compared to his first two race starts, which were at city tracks, Randwick and Eagle Farm.

Ready To Humble’s early speed should help him overcome a tricky barrier and set up an on-pace run. He’ll be hard to beat.

---

Place a $20 live betting wager with BetAmerica and get $20 in free bets!