A horse ridden by a South African in silks sporting a famous New Zealand emblem is poised to hijack the $100,000 Australia Day Cup at Randwick on Monday.In-form stayer Tommifrancs is the equal favourite to continue his summer winning streak in the 2400-metre Listed race.If he can keep his winning streak going, Tommifrancs will be crossing the finishing line in first place with his South African jockey Glyn Schofield wearing black silks emblazoned with a silver fern leaf.Tommifrancs carries the
A horse ridden by a South African in silks sporting a famous New Zealand emblem is poised to hijack the $100,000 Australia Day Cup at Randwick on Monday.
In-form stayer Tommifrancs is the equal favourite to continue his summer winning streak in the 2400-metre Listed race.
If he can keep his winning streak going, Tommifrancs will be crossing the finishing line in first place with his South African jockey Glyn Schofield wearing black silks emblazoned with a silver fern leaf.
Tommifrancs carries the livery because he is part-owned by John Thompson, a proud New Zealander who has enjoyed plenty of racetrack success including a Caulfield Cup victory with Diatribe.
It would not be the first time the Australian Jockey Club's holiday feature has left patriotic punters feeling short-changed.
Only last year jockey former New Zealand jockey Larry Cassidy cheekily called for the race to be renamed the Kiwi Day Cup after winning it for the fourth time.
Cassidy's brother Jimmy has also won the race twice.
Trainer Gerald Ryan said he couldn't fault Tommifrancs since his Frank Underwood Cup win at Rosehill.
"I've kept him ticking over. I don't think I could get him any better," Ryan said.
Ryan and Schofield have dominated staying races over the past six weeks with Ready To Lift and Tommifrancs winning four Cup races between them.
Tommifrancs has paid a price for his part in the spree and has been asked to carry 60kg on Monday.
"These days there is a higher limit weight so I don't think the weight is a factor," Ryan said.
While Tommifrancs is aiming for a black type hat-trick, emerging stayer Macknuckle will be stepping up to stakes class for the first time but his three recent restricted wins have punters wary and he is the $2.80 equal favourite with TAB Sportsbet.
Trained at Canberra by experienced horseman Bernie Howlett, Macknuckle won over 2400 metres at Rosehill on January 10 at his first attempt at the distance.
Randwick trainer Anthony Cummings is also hoping he can save the day for Australia, albeit with a New Zealand-bred stayer.
Cummings will send out Zavite, a six-year-old who has struggled since winning the 2007 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Flemington.
In a bid to spark Zavite into some semblance of form, Cummings has engaged Nash Rawiller to ride the gelding.
"I was going to put blinkers on him but decided against it when we were able to book Nash," Cummings said.
Rawiller was aboard Zavite in the Queen Elizabeth - the last time the stayer won a race.
On Sunday, Zavite was on the second line of betting at $8 alongside Ashraf.