Chris Waller leaning towards running Winx in Queen Elizabeth Stakes
TRAINER Chris Waller has given his strongest indication yet that champion mare Winx will run in the $4m Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Randwick during The Championships.
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TRAINER Chris Waller has given his strongest indication yet that champion mare Winx will run in the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick during The Championships.
Waller used his weekly online video to give an update on Winx’s progress since her brilliant comeback win in the Chipping Norton Stakes last Saturday, confirming the mare’s next start is the Group 1 $1 million George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill on March 24 as scheduled before indicating she is most likely to run in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes three weeks later.
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“The good news is she has come through the race with flying colours,’’ Waller said. “She will have a pretty quiet week this week then from (Saturday) we will step up her workload.
“She has come back in great shape and looks to be in for a very good preparation. I would say she is going to run in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.’’
Please see below the Winx update as to how she has pulled up from her impressive first up win - to view the full video on our runners for the weekend, please visit https://t.co/Z943HmUw6d pic.twitter.com/jQWNvJfMwS
— Chris Waller Racing (@cwallerracing) March 7, 2018
It will be a huge boost to Sydney racing if Winx runs in both the George Ryder and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, two races she won by a combined margin of nearly 13 lengths last year.
TAB Fixed Odds has already framed markets on both races. Winx is at $1.10 for the George Ryder Stakes and $1.20 for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
McDonald cleared for return
JAMES McDonald will be able to ride trackwork and trials ahead of his return to racing after a lengthy ban for a betting offence.
The former stable jockey for Godolphin, McDonald was outed after he admitted to placing a $1000 bet on Astern before he rode the horse to victory at Randwick in December, 2015.
His 18-month ban ends on May 15 and Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys has agreed to a recommendation from the Licensing Committee for McDonald to be relicensed to ride trackwork. McDonald, a former two-time Sydney premier jockey, can resume trackwork riding from April 3 to help with the transition to race riding.
Stakes high but the Slipper major prize
THERE is a real likelihood the Golden Slipper winner will be in action at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
Sunlight, the early Slipper favourite, isn’t racing but recent history shows the Todman Stakes and Reisling Stakes are the most reliable guides for the world’s richest juvenile race in two weeks. In fact, the past seven Slipper winners have sported colours in either of these two crucial lead-up races.
During this period, Pierro (2012) and Vancouver (2015) have won the Todman Stakes-Golden Slipper double, and Overreach (2013) took out the Reisling Stakes before winning the Slipper. Todman Stakes runners-ups Sepoy (2011) and Capitalist (2016) both bounced back to win the Slipper, while Mossfun (2014) and She Will Reign (2017) ran second in the Reisling before winning a fortnight later.
Meantime, Hong Kong-based jockey Zac Purton has been confirmed to ride the Tony McEvoy-trained Oohood in the Golden Slipper.
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ESTIJAAB is a dominant $1.35 Reisling favourite and Performer is atop the Todman betting at $2, but the make-up of the fields they will oppose on Saturday is still unclear.
There are 10 youngsters entered for Randwick that are also among final acceptors for the Group 3 $300,000 Black Opal Stakes (1200m) at Canberra on Sunday.
Encryption has already been scratched from the Todman to run in the Black Opal, while Priarie Of Fire, Legend Of Condor, Bondi, Exceltic, Aylmerton, Paquirri, Tchaikovsky and Republic are still in both races.
Nuclear Blitz, trained by Team Hawkes and a stablemate of Estijaab, is in the Reisling Stakes and Black Opal.
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KEMENTARI, the boom three-year-old colt and early favourite for the Group 1 Royal Randwick Guineas, is another example of Suzanne Philcox’s handiwork.
The Godolphin employee names most of the stable’s racehorses and the derivation of Kementari is another of her inspired choices.
Kementari’s dam is Yavanna, a daughter of Redoute’s Choice, and her name is also that of a character in a J.R.R. Tolkien novel, The Silmarillion.
Yavanna is the goddess of nature and her surname is Kementari.
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TRAINERS Kris Lees and Kim Waugh trained the quinella in the first Provincial Championships Qualifier at Wyong last week and are favoured to repeat the feat in the Hawkesbury heat on Saturday.
Waugh has the favourite Uptown Lad at $4.60 for the $150,000 Hawkesbury Provincial Championships Qualifier (1400m). The Lees-trained Reach For Heaven is pressing at $4.80.
Lees won the Wyong heat, when Just Dreaming ran down Waugh’s Manhattan Mist near the line, ensuring both a start in the $500,000 Provincial Championships Final (1400m) at Randwick on April 14.
Music hits all the right notes
BRILLIANT Sydney sprinter Music Magnate tuned for up for his Dubai trip with a barrier trial win at Rosehill Gardens on Thursday.
Music Magnate, trained by Bjorn Baker, hasn’t raced since winning the Christmas Classic in December but he was given a solid hitout to run down stablemate I Am Poppy over 900m.
Music Magnate will leave for Dubai on March 20 to prepare for the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint at the World Cup meeting 11 days later.
This morning we took another step closer on #TheRoadToDubai with Music Magnate winning his trial at @rosehillgardens #MusicMagnate #BjornBakerRacing @blake_shinn @Woodside_Park @atc_races @DRC_Meydan @DubaiWorldCup @Globalgallop @superracing @RayThomas_1 @justracingcomau pic.twitter.com/AcNpujTAP5
— Bjorn Baker Racing (@BBakerRacing) March 7, 2018
The trainer also revealed that new stable acquisition Crack Me Up had pulled up well after his barnstorming Liverpool City Cup win last week.
Baker said Crack Me Up would take on champion Winx in the George Ryder Stakes.
He said the Ryder did provide the perfect lead-up for Crack Me Up into the Doncaster Mile at Randwick on day one of The Championships on April 7. Crack Me Up is a recent stable acquisition for Baker after being transferred from Liam Birchley.
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ERIN Molan, host of the revamped NRL Footy Show, which kicked off its new season on Channel 9 on Thursday night, also had success on the racetrack this week. Molan is a part-owner of the Clare Cunningham-trained El Dorado Mine, a runaway winner at Orange last Monday.