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Andrew O’Toole’s Saturday best at Darwin (25/07)
Andrew O’Toole • July 23rd, 2026 12:00 pm
Day 5 of the 2026 Great Northern Darwin Cup Carnival, TAB Metric Mile Day, gives a number of runners their last chance to force a run in both the Great Northern Darwin Cup and the bet365 Palmerston Sprint, with both the feature and the Silk Laser Clinics Flying Sprint affording the winners ballot exemption into the two Cup weekend features respectively.
The $55,000 Metric Mile has attracted a near capacity line-up, with 11 horses accepting for the 1600m event. With the exception of Magic Defense, Komachi and Wolfburn, who are all assured of a Cup start, the remainder of the field will need to win to pick up the golden ticket into the Cup, and I am in the camp of one of those, Rematch, to do just that.
The 6yo gelding, formerly trained by Paul Messara and Leah Gavranich in NSW, has had just the two starts in the Top End from the in-form stable of Chris Nash, and after a solid first-up fifth behind Shisuta Bo, really announced himself with a strong win in the Rydges Palmerston Cup over the same trip as today’s feature. He was given a lovely ride by Richard Bensley, who has formed a strong association with Nash, the pair combining for a winner on each of the first four days of the Cup Carnival.
Rematch carried 59.5kg in his last start, and drops by 4kg here to 55.5kg. He has drawn a middle gate of seven which should not prove an issue for him, and with a good run in transit such as he enjoyed last time out, he should be hitting the line strongly. While this is a tougher field than the one he beat on Day 2 of the Carnival, he is a talented son of Real Impact who seems to be hitting his straps at the right time.
My next three selections – Wolfburn, Komachi and Magic Defense – are all safely in the Darwin Cup but with the good stake on offer, you can be sure that they will be leading contenders.
Wolfburn, trained by Gary Clarke and with regular rider Jarrod Todd in the saddle, was much more like his old self last time out when a game fifth, beaten just 1.5 lengths, behind Magic Defense in the Chief Minister’s Cup. There is a 3kg turnaround in weights this time, with Wolfburn, the winner of this race in the last two years, being asked to carry 58.5kg, while Magic Defense has the steadier of 59.5kg.
One downside for Wolfburn is his barrier draw of 11 – he will need to do some work from that draw in the early part of the race – but his last-start effort was encouraging and he has such a good record at this track and trip that he simply cannot be left out of calculations. The rising 8yo will surely give another good account of himself.
Komachi, trained in SA by Will Clarken, was strong through the line in the Chief Minister’s, finishing off well from back in the field to take seventh. The four-time winner and five times placed at this distance has the quality to be competitive, and will again have the services of Derby-winning jockey Jade Hampson.
Magic Defense is a model of consistency and has been throughout her 36-start career to date, with ten wins, nine seconds and six thirds her record. She chased down Dakota Lee in the Chief Minister’s and then kept going in the gamest possible fashion when the great mare threatened a comeback, with a number of other fast finishers getting ever so close to her at the line.
Kerry Petrick was uncertain whether her charge would have another run between the Chief Minister’s and the Cup, but she must be pleased with her mare to be lining her up again, especially with top weight. She will drop plenty of kilos for the Darwin Cup but is not just here to make up the numbers. Stan Tsaikos, riding under a stay of proceedings after a one-meeting suspension incurred last week which he has appealed against, will again have the steer.
Crown Waters was a slashing sixth in the Chief Minister’s and is racing as well as ever, while Stormfront, after a lacklustre first-up run in the ROANT Cup, has missed a start between then and now and has to really step up here. The St Pat’s Cup winner from earlier this year is a quality individual and with Paul Shiers in the saddle, he could easily run a big race.
The $35,000 Silk Laser Clinics Flying Sprint has attracted a field of eight, with just Field Of Flutes assured of a bet365 Palmerston Sprint run (Zourata and Forms Of Fear were not nominated for the Palmerston). Therefore, Devils Delights, Shirshov, Flying Annie, Lim’s Ida and Anson Bay will be doing their best to take out the 1100m event in order to gain a run in the big 1200m contest a week later.
From the inside gate, Zourata will take all sorts of beating over this short-course trip, while Anson Bay, with 7kg less than he won with on 11 July, Shirshov and Field Of Flutes round out my top four.
The weather in Darwin this week has been nice and fine, with cooler nights and lovely warm days. The official forecast for today reads: Mostly sunny. Light winds becoming southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h during the morning then becoming light during the evening. The temperature is forecast to reach a lovely 31 degrees, while it will be 20 degrees overnight. There is just a 5% chance of any rain.
The first race on the seven-race card gets underway at 1.22pm (NT time), which is 1.52pm on the eastern seaboard, while the last is timed to go at 5.07pm (NT time), or 5.37pm in New South Wales and Victoria.
BEST BETS
R1 # 8 PRESS EXPRESSCopped a nasty check on her first start in Darwin, but still managed to get up and run second, albeit some seven lengths adrift of the runaway winner Luna Field a fortnight ago. However, had she not suffered interference, she would certainly have finished a lot closer to the winner and whether she would have come out on top we’ll never know. Steps up in trip, drawn nicely here in barrier four and with better luck in running, can give this a real shake.
R5 # 4 LUNA FIELDWas expected to win and did so in superb fashion, leading throughout before kicking right away over the final stages to score by a big margin here on 11 July. Is a three-time winner on this track and in this small field, should again be right on the pace. Stan Tsaikos, riding under a stay, retains the mount and the Neil Dyer-trained 5yo son of Deep Field can go back-to-back over this 1000m, the same distance he won at last time.
R7 # 8 REMATCHWas a strong winner of the Rydges Palmerston Cup on 8 July over this distance of 1600m, and is one of eight runners in this feature event that have to win to ensure an automatic Darwin Cup start. Trainer Chris Nash and rider Richard Bensley have combined to win a race on each day of the Carnival to date, and with 4kg less than he carried last time, he should give a good account of himself in an even line-up.
SELECTIONS
RACE 1 – 8, 6, 3, 4RACE 2 – 3, 2, 1, 5RACE 3 – 5, 11, 4, 12RACE 4 – 2, 8, 4, 1RACE 5 – 4, 1, 3, 2RACE 6 – 1, 3, 5, 4RACE 7 – 8, 3, 2, 1
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