Premier Sydney trainer Chris Waller will chase his fourth consecutive win in Saturday’s Breeders Classic 2017 accepting for two mares in the Royal Randwick clash including French Emotion.
Myer Classic runner-up French Emotion headlines the 2017 Breeders Classic field at Randwick Racecourse on Saturday. Photo:Ultimate Racing Photos.
Set to run as Randwick Race 7 at 4:25pm (AEDT), this season’s $200,000 Group 2 China Horse Club Breeders Classic (1200m) field attracted nine mares.
Waller has dominated Breeders Classic results over the past three years winning the early Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival clash with Catkins (2014 & 2015) and Amicus (2016).
This year he is represented in the Breeders Classic field by French Emotion and Tsaritsa drawn in barriers six and three respectively.
Last year’s winning hoop Hugh Bowman rides returning Snitzel five-year-old French Emotion on Saturday in the mare’s first run since her close second at $41 Breeders Classic odds in Flemington’s Group 1 Myer Classic (1600m) back on Derby Day.
She hasn’t raced in Sydney since July of 2015 but proved her class with success in the Group 2 Blazer Stakes (1400m) in Melbourne last October and has since trialled twice.
Her hit-outs were both at Warwick Farm with a third third over 805m on January 10 and a second to Sezanne over 1000m on January 23 ahead of her campaign kick-off.
Waller’s other runner Tsaritsa is a four-year-old daughter of Dane Shadow also hitting the tracks for the first time this year.
Winner of the Group 2 Queensland Guineas (1600m) over the Eagle Farm mile last winter, she is out to atone for her ninth to Sons Of John when beaten only three lengths at Randwick back in September’s Group 3 Bill Ritchie (1400m).
Tsaritsa comes out of the same hit-out as her stablemate where she ran last (10th) and has James Doyle aboard on Saturday.
Along with French Emotion the other highest rated mares in the Breeders Classic this season are the Kris Lees-trained Danish Twist and Peter & Paul Snowden’s rails-drawn Flippant.
Tommy Berry has the ride on Dane Shadow mare Danish Twist whose latest start was a Myer Classic ninth behind I Am A Star.
She hasn’t won since the Listed June Stakes (1100m) last winter, but has strong Randwick form (5-2-1-1) and trialled nicely at home at Newcastle on January 25.
Team Snowden’s runner Flippant is well-weighted on 54kg and gets the inside run from barrier one as the nicely-bred Hinchinbrook four-year-old chases her first win since a Melbourne Cup Day victory last November.
Flippant was last seen racing at the Gold Coast in mid-January when beaten under two lengths by Private Secretary in the $1 million Magic Millions Fillies & Mares (1300m) carrying 59.5kg from barrier 16 of 16.
She looks a huge hope of improving off that with the better barrier and big drop in weight for the Breeders Classic.
Other notable chances include the Bjorn Baker-trained Egyptian Symbol, in-form Time Thief four-year-old In Her Time chasing a third win on the trot and the resuming Goulburn Cup winner Circular for Godolphin.
Check out the full Breeders Classic 2017 field, barriers and jockeys below with betting to open shortly at Ladbrokes.com.au – home of Odds Boost (T&Cs apply).
2017 Breeders Classic Final Field & Barrier Draw
Randwick Race 7 (4:25pm) – 04/02/2017
| # | Form (Last 10) | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Br. | Wgt. | H. Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20x672162x | FRENCH EMOTION | Chris Waller | Hugh Bowman | 6 | 56kg | 101 |
| 2 | 2x1113x39x | TSARITSA | Chris Waller | James Doyle | 3 | 56kg | 92 |
| 3 | 11118x359x | DANISH TWIST | Kris Lees | Tommy Berry | 7 | 55kg | 104 |
| 4 | 33236×1516 | EGYPTIAN SYMBOL | Bjorn Baker | Jason Collett | 5 | 55kg | 94 |
| 5 | 14x7x01x05 | FLIPPANT | Peter & Paul Snowden | TBA | 1 | 54kg | 101 |
| 6 | 4131x59x02 | I AM ZELADY | Joseph Pride | Tim Clark | 9 | 54kg | 92 |
| 7 | 317x33311x | CIRCULAR | John O’Shea | Brenton Avdulla | 8 | 54kg | 90 |
| 8 | 10x9205x11 | IN HER TIME | Benjamin Smith | Andrew Adkins (a) | 4 | 54kg | 79 |
| 9 | 180157×973 | MAGNAJOY | Jarrod Austin | TBA | 2 | 54kg | 72 |
