Premier race returns to Geraldton Turf Club with the $125k Batavia Sprint expected to be a close contest

All eyes will be on the Geraldton Turf Club this weekend with the Batavia Sprint hosting a cash pool of $125,000. The action will come in the seventh race, a change from the previous meeting where it was the final race of the day. There are 15 runners scheduled to take on the 1200m marquee race, with many local names lining up. Noticeably absent is 2022 Batavia Sprint winner False Statement. Since winning the race late that year, the eight-year-old gelding has not found much success with just one place in nine runs. That leaves the race up for grabs, with the four-year-old Budgerigar looking a hot contender. The gelding will be ridden by Natasha Faithfull, who rode favourite Corn Cob in the last race but fell short to False Statement. He’s been in hot form, coming off a win at Esperance and placing in four of his last five runs, as well as grabbing back-to-back wins the last time he ran in Geraldton. It won’t be an easy run for Budgerigar as he faces tough competition, including Supersession trained by Adam Durrant. The four-year-old gelding ran fifth at Pinjarra recently, but before that he had consecutive wins and consecutive places, while coming into this run with Clint Johnston-Porter as the jockey. Jockeys to look out for that could be the difference are Troy Turner with Glen Cortes-trained horse Dream To Me, and Joseph Azzopardi on David Harrison’s horse Sunny Honey. Similar to the previous Batavia Sprint, Julia Martin is the only trainer with two entries in the race — eight-year-old Bombay Style and four-year-old Miff Muffered Moof — both which could be a chance on the Geraldton track. There are still plenty of others to keep an eye on, including five-year-old Bigdayonit trained by Ashley Maley with Michael Poy aboard. A local runner to look out for is the mare Patchwork, with the five-year-old horse having success at her home turf. All the runners will be competing for the $125,000 purse, with the winner receiving $68,500, second place getting $23,250 and third place $11,000. Gates will open from noon on Sunday with free entry and the Batavia Sprint is scheduled to jump at 4.55pm.