Waller spoils punters’ fun
THE punters yesterday came for star mare Funstar ahead of Saturday’s Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m) at Randwick but she was scratched from the race late in the afternoon at 4.45pm.
Chris Waller had the Flight Stakes winner accepted for the Group 3 Show County Quality (1200m) on the same day and opted to go for the easier task with the filly even though she firmed in from $9 to $5.50 for the Winx Stakes.
She’s a firm $3.10 favourite for the Show County Quality which meant stablemate Verry Elleegant assumed equal $6.50 favouritism for the big Group 1 along with Master Of Wine.
The TAB’s Trent Langskaill said the star-studded field, which features eight horses with a rating of 110 or more, was a great race for punters to sink their teeth into.
“The Winx Stakes promises to be a fascinating betting contest thanks to the quality of the field for the first Group 1 of the new racing season,” Langskaill said.
In another feature at Randwick on Saturday, the Group 2 Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m), punters are backing a bush horse.
Goulburn’s See You Soon, trained by Jean Dubois, is the $3.50 favourite after opening at $3.60 and second favourite Dame Giselle remained at $4 after drawing gate nine of 10.
While many spring contenders will kick off their campaigns on Saturday, two winners from Wednesday’s Canterbury meeting might join them over the carnival.
Raison D’etre is going places after she hammered a field by three lengths that included Elizabeel while Richard Litt might have found his next top colt with Black Duke.
By Melbourne Cup winner Fiorente, the three-year-old exploded late over the top of odds-on pop Cat D’oro to win in exciting fashion over 1200m.
He’s a horse that naturally will only get better over 1600m and more.
“Hopefully the world is his oyster,” Litt said.
“He’s a little bit hard to handle but he’s always shown a lot of promise and I’m delighted he’s done it today.”
Meanwhile, Applications for exemptions for international stable staff to travel to Australia continue to shape promisingly as several prospective spring carnival contenders prepare to contest key lead-up races in England this week.
Racing Victoria said: “Applications for travel exemptions for international stable staff are currently being made and we are making good progress with the government thus far.”
“We would expect to know the fate of all applicants by the first week of September,” a spokesman said.
“Applications for travel exemptions are not the final step in the equation though to facilitate the participation of internationally-trained horses in the spring racing carnival.
“The logistics around stable staff completing mandatory quarantine is a further step which is complicated by this service not being currently offered in Victoria. Thus, we are continuing to explore our options in this space if exemptions are granted.”
Likely Melbourne and Caulfield Cup aspirant Dashing Willoughby and 2018 carnival visitor Withhold are entered in Friday night’s Lonsdale Cup at York. Last season’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner and Geelong Cup runnerup True Self holds entries in the Lonsdale Cup and Saturday night’s Ebor Handicap.