The Super Saturday card continues as we head north to Royal Randwick; we have another action-packed card highlighted by two Group 1 races. Racegoers can enjoy the newly opened Winx Stand, which is set to be open for everyone to enjoy.
Our group racing kicks off in Race 3 with the two-year-old fillies set to step out for the Gr. 2 Petaluma Reisling Stakes. On face level, this appears to be a rather open race in terms of form with Godolphins Tempted in the first line of betting for James Cummings and JMac. Still a lightly raced filly, with just three starts, clocking a debut win followed by a second placing in the Group 3 Widden Stakes before a luckless run in the Group 1 Blue Diamond. She should appreciate if this rain should hang about, and the trainer/jockey strike rate of a juicy 27%, you can see why the market likes her! One-start wonder Inkaruna could shake things up, set to have her second start after a debut win in the Group 3 Chairmans Stakes. Group 3 Gimcrack Stakes winner Bel Merci looks to turn her recent form around after being reprimanded for bad racing manners in the Group 2 Silver Slipper; she needs a good shake-up.
The Colts create a showstopper in Race 4 with the Group 2 Darley Todman Stakes with up-and-coming star Wodeton continuing his preparation towards the Golden Slipper after placings as the hot price favourite in the Silver Slipper. Whilst Group 3 Golden Gift winner North England resumes from a spell, with such a stellar start to his racing career and winning two trials leading into this, the Waterhouse-Bott trained colt is hard to look past. Interestingly, team Hawkes has placed blue-blood Nepotism amongst these top-rated colts for his raceday debut—they must have quite the opinion!
The Group 2 Scweppes Challenge Stakes created another interesting contest in Race 6 with Queensland raider Uncommon James chucking the blinkers back on as the team looks to bounce back to the form that saw him win the Gr. 1 Oakleigh Plate and place in the Gr. 1 Moir and Gr. 1 Manikato. Another who is due to return to her winning ways is the Maher-trained I Am Me, who looks to give the punters what they’re looking for as the short-priced fave. The true contender looks to be Kimochi, who resumes after a spell following her Gr. 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes win. Boasting strong first-up form and with the confidence of a Group 1 win under her belt, could she be the one to beat?
The punters seem to have their eye on just one contender in the Gr. 1 Randwick Guineas, and rightfully so, with soft-track specialist Broadsiding looking to back up after his win in the Gr. 2 Hobartville. All the top-rated form looks to come out of this race, with Hobartville runner-up Swiftfalcon looking to suit the step up in distance, while third-place-getter Aeliana should also appreciate the cut in the track and has winning form second up.
Superstar mare Sunshine in Paris returns from a spell to contest the Gr. 1 Canterbury Stakes at a juicy price. With strong first-up form and two Group 1s to her name, the Neasham-Archibald-trained mare looks to take on the likes of Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Switzerland, who put in a strong run despite missing the placing in the Gr. 1 Black Caviar Lightning first-up. With strong second-up form and with strong form at the track, you would expect him to be right in this. The most fascinating contender has to be the return of Militirize, who returns as a gelding after a failed career at stud. With three Group 1s to his name, we’ll all be watching eagle-eyed to see how he returns to the racetrack!
There are storylines everywhere we look tomorrow; stay tuned for Racing X’s preview of the inaugural running of the NZB The Kiwi!
