Drama takes on Winx at Randwick but not until Monday

Tomorrow's race meeting at Randwick in Australia has been postponed due to expected extreme heat, putting on hold an absorbing race for the Star Apollo Stakes.

The Aus$250,000 Group Two event, now to be run on Monday afternoon at 17.40 local time (06.40 in UK), had drawn a high-class field of 12, including Qatar Bloodstock's Classic-placed Endless Drama, but also his stablemate, the brilliant mare Winx. The pair are trained by Chris Waller, who booked Tye Angland for Endless Drama and Hugh Bowman for Winx (the pair are pictured, Winx in front, under their big-race jockeys).

Waller said: ‚"I'm grateful they've postponed the meeting, particularly with regard to Endless Drama, who is not used to Australian summers just yet. He has trialled very well recently and his work since has been good. Gate 14 is a slight negative, but I'm hoping he can get a bit of cover in fifth or sixth and finish off strongly.‚"

Winx is bidding for her fourteenth straight win, but is certainly not the only high-class act in the field, for the race also includes Hartnell, a two-time Group One winner and third in the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup in November it says something about the differences between training methods in Australia and Europe that a horse who was placed over 3,200m (two miles) on his most recent start, should return to racing after a spell in a race over 1,400m (seven furlongs). It is hard to imagine an Ascot Gold Cup or Doncaster Cup winner making a return to racing over a trip short of a mile and a half.

Finishing in the top three in Monday's rearranged race would be a very good result for Endless Drama, who is drawn on the outside of the field. He headed Winx in a trial at Rosehill last month, and seems sure to improve on his first outing for Waller, having joined the trainer last autumn from Ger Lyons' stable in Ireland.

In early November's Gr.1 Emirates Stakes he finished last of 12, albeit only five and a half lengths behind the winner Awesome Rock, and, having been given a break and time to acclimatise, he is expected to improve on that effort. Waller is keen to emphasise that the race is very much the first step towards a busy autumn programme.

Randwick's likely easy going despite the heatwave will be very much in Endless Drama's favour, but Arod prefers much quicker ground, and should encounter it when lining up in Gr.1 C.F. Orr Stakes, also over 1,400m, at Caulfield tomorrow.

Drawn one in a field of 12, Arod will be ridden by Craig Williams among key rivals are the proven pair of Black Heart Bart and Malaguerra, but they have been done no favour by the draw, having been given gates 11 and 12 respectively.

Endless Drama and Winx photo - Carl Evans