Messene Faces Local Talent In Railway

Saturday’s G1 Railway S.–the last opportunity for milers in Group 1 company in Australia this year–sees a pair of shippers pitted against some local talent in a contest that early betting suggests will be competitive. Team Hawkes Flemington shipper Messene (Aus) (Lonhro {Aus}) was an encouraging fourth behind eventual G1 Cox Plate winner Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) in the G1 Epsom H. Oct. 3 before taking a 28-day break, but put up only a moderate performance when eighth in the G3 Guvera S. upon return Oct. 31. The 7-year-old gelding’s performance there could be blamed on the soft going, and he’ll be back to his preferred drier ground here. Also shipping in is the Chris Waller-trained Good Project (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}), who has yet to finish out of the top three this season and was second in Flemington benchmark 90 race Nov. 3. He enjoys a weight-break of 11 pounds from local favorite Black Heart Bart (Aus) (Blackfriars {Aus}), who enters this off back-to-back wins in the G3 Northerly S. and G2 Lee Steere S. going 1400 meters over this course. He has been tried over this distance just once, as a 3-year-old two years ago, and was third. Also looking to keep the trophy in Western Australia is Delicacy (Aus) (Al Maher {Aus}), who started the season with three trials off a 182-day break and subsequently finished third in the Lee Steere. The 4-year-old mare will need some luck from barrier 15 but has proven class, with 10 wins from 15 career starts. Another making a comeback from a long holiday this season is Real Love (Aus) (Desert King {Ire}), who won the G2 Perth Cup Jan. 1 but was sidelined after finishing eighth in the G2 Peter Young S. Feb. 28 and was off for 245 days. He won the G3 Asian Beau S. over 1400 meters off a pair of trials Oct. 31 but like Delicacy, has a wide barrier to deal with.