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Australia’s newest championship race day, Champions Stakes Day at Flemington looks like an incredible betting day with plenty of deep races and exciting fields.
Who should you be backing? Find out below. (Odds correct as at Nov 3 8.53 pm)
DARLEY CHAMPIONS SPRINT
The Everest may be the richest turf race on the planet and it attracted the creme de la creme of sprinters but this contest looks every bit as good and certainly befitting the “championship” title.
There is the rematch between a pair of The Everest winners #1 Nature Strip ($1.95) and #14 Giga Kick ($5.50), last-start runaway Manikato Stakes heroine #9 Bella Nipotina ($6), top Kiwi mares #11 Roch ‘n’ Horse ($26) and #12 Levante ($31), Group 1 winners #2 Masked Crusader ($31), #4 Rothfire ($31) and #10 September Run ($41), and promising three-year-old #15 Lofty Strike ($41).
It feels almost criminal that the others are relegated to supporting player status because any horse who manages to line up in this race, let alone win is a horse worth backing. Ultimately, it’s hard to go past Nature Strip, who was good in The Everest having had to withstand plenty of pressure from a deep position.
If there are two who could cause an upset – perhaps worth playing them in quinellas? – it could be New Zealand mare Levante or emerging three-year-old Lofty Strike.
Levante arguably could have won the Newmarket Handicap in the autumn but ended up in the wrong spot. She is first-up here and could be a threat; she’s definitely flying under the radar.
As for Lofty Strike, he is third-up after two good runs and should be ready to fire here.
KENNEDY CHAMPIONS MILE
If there is a best bet among the three Group 1 races, it is perhaps #3 Cascadian at $5 in the Champions Mile.
He has been beaten in this race (when it was a handicap; it’s now weight-for-age) three times but he has never been beaten more than a neck.
And while he has been consistent throughout his career, he has never been in the form that he finds himself in currently.
This is a tough ask.
#2 Private Eye ($3) has gone to a whole other level this campaign, to the point where some pundits are placing him at the level of potentially being Australia’s top horse.
#4 Alligator Blood ($7) is well-suited back to the mile and arguably should have won the Makybe Diva Stakes at this course and distance.
#5 Mr Brightside ($10) is a Doncaster Mile winner, #8 Tuvalu ($11) is a last-start Toorak Handicap victor, and #9 My Oberon ($4.60) has plenty of admirers after his big effort at his first start in Australia.
However, Cascadian looms as the bet of the features.
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VRC CHAMPIONS STAKES
The Cox Plate may traditionally be Australasia’s weight-for-age championship, but don’t be surprised if – within five years – the Champions Stakes is seen as that race.
As a Cox Plate fan, that’s disappointing but it does feel as though things are shifting to take away its position as a championship race.
With Moonee Valley set to undergo a renovation and the calendar now packed in Sydney around that date in October, it wouldn’t surprise to see all roads lead to the Champions Stakes.
Formerly the Mackinnon Stakes, a terrific field is set to line up this year and it looks every bit as good as the Cox Plate.
Of course, #7 Anamoe ($1.90) is the one to beat after an unbeaten spring that includes his last-start win in the Cox Plate.
He faces a rematch with Moonee Valley rivals #1 I’m Thunderstruck ($4.40), #2 Zaaki ($8.50), #3 Mo’unga ($12), and #4 Maximal ($51) but the addition of Group 1-winning mares #8 Hinged ($21) and #9 Mustang Valley ($41) as well as three-year-olds #10 Elliptical ($13) and #11 Mr Maestro ($21) ensures that it will be a race for the ages.
Perhaps if there is a quinella horse, it might be with Elliptical, given that the Spring Champion Stakes form has stood up with Manzoice and Sharp ‘n’ Smart in the Victoria Derby and She’s Extreme in the VRC Oaks.
ELSEWHERE
Earlier in the day, the Group 3 Queen’s Cup (2600m) sees a competitive staying field lining up at Flemington.
There has been plenty of money for #11 Soulcombe ($2.80) but #4 Great House ($12) clearly outworked him last week and should be suited to getting onto a better track. He looks like a great bet.
Up in Sydney, #12 Rebel Rama looks a terrific each-way bet at $26 in the Five Diamonds (1800m), while Italian-English trainer Marco Botti looks to have a good chance of recording his first Australian winner with #9 Divine Magic ($18) in the Group 2 Hot Danish Stakes (1400m).
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