Ahead of a massive day of racing across Australia tomorrow, we have looked into our ‘Crystal Ball’ and have come up with four predictions that might play out across the day.
The Queensland Derby Winner Returns at Randwick
As The Championships come to a close at Randwick on Saturday, it will be a quick turnaround to the upcoming South Australia and Queensland carnivals. There is no longer an off-season in racing and punters will already have an eye on the Queensland Winter Carnival in the coming weeks. Randwick will host a strong card of racing with four Group 1’s, while the undercard is also brilliant. Two races in particular for the three-year-old’s looks a ripper.
Aft Cabin has been well-supported for the Group 2 Arrowfield Sprint as the Godolphin colt looks to bounce back following his Randwick Guineas defeat. However, earlier in the card, the Listed South Pacific Classic looks a terrific event on paper. Cool Jakey is the $4.60 favourite as a host of the leading contenders come through the same race on the Randwick Kensington last month. Emerging stayers Renaissance Woman, Kovalica, Perfect Thought and Stylised all resume over 1400m. Each horse is on a likely Queensland campaign, with Kovalica and Stylised on a Queensland Derby path and look easy early bets for the Derby.
Aft Cabin Stamps Himself A Top-Class Sprinter
Godolphin colt Aft Cabin entered the autumn carnival with a monstrous boom after injury forced him to miss the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas. Following a sensational win over 1200m in the Group 3 Eskimo Prince Stakes, warning alerts were being sounded after his defeat in the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes though after Aft Cabin was beaten as a $1.60 favourite. Although he had to do some work in the early stages of the race, he faded late to be beaten by Osipenko. He was subsequently beaten as favourite again in the Randwick Guineas and has been freshened-up for Saturday.
Regular Rider James McDonald was aboard Aft Cabin as he returned to the trials at the end of March with a nice piece of work over 1045m. He is drawn perfectly in barrier four and we expect him to return to the winner’s stall on Saturday.
Cleveland Wins The Sydney Cup
Glyn Schofield on the weekend preview was bullish on the chances of Cleveland and it is hard to argue with him. Glyn spoke about the beautiful nature of the horse, highlighting the manners of Cleveland as he drops his head straight out of the gates. The Joseph O’Brien-trained five-year-old was given an easy time in the Tancred Stakes at Rosehill. Kerrin McEvoy eased him back to settle off-midfield and despite copping some interference at the turn, he picked-up strongly through the line. Cleveland now drops eight-kilograms to 51kg and is already a winner beyond two miles.
Battle For The Ages
What a race this will be. Anamoe vs Dubai Honour. Who wins? We don’t know.
Glyn Schofield was very bullish on the chances of Dubai Honour to overturn Anamoe on Saturday and it is hard to argue why. William Haggas won the Queen Elizabeth Stakes two years in a row with Addeybb and returns with Dubai Honour. He was sensational when trouncing his opposition in the Ranvet Stakes and produced some scintillating sectionals late.
On the other hand, Anamoe was brave when three-wide in the George Ryder Stakes on the same day. It was the first time the Godolphin star had stepped back in trip in his career. He has only tasted defeat once in the past twelve months, with an end of preparation run at Flemington after the Cox Plate. Confident James McDonald would no doubt be frustrated with the success of the international jockeys raiding the Sydney carnival and will be keen to make a statement with the champ.
Bring it on!
