The Championships Day 2 will be held at Royal Randwick this Saturday. The course proper was rated a Good 4 on Thursday and with fine weather in Sydney leading up to the weekend, Randwick will be racing on a Good track on raceday.
Tony McEvoy can start off the meeting as a winner with consistent filly Aristocratic Miss in the opening event at Randwick (Sydney Race 1, 1600m). The 2YO has only missed a place twice in 7 career starts. Last start in the Baillieu Stakes (1400m), she came from second last, just failing to run down Irukandji. The mile on Saturday will suit her and so will the spacious Randwick track. Luke Currie will once again settle the filly back in the field and with reasonable pace in the race, Aristocratic Miss will finish off strongly.
Vinery Stud Stakes winner Hiyaam has the pedigree to be an Australian Oaks winner (Sydney Race 6, 2400m). By High Chaparral out of a Zabeel mare, the 2400m of the Oaks distance will be right up to Hiyaam’s alley. The 3YO showed glimpses of her staying potential last Spring when finishing a closed 3rd in the VRC Oaks. Hiyamm has returned in terrific order with a 3rd place finish in the Phar Lap Stakes when 1st up from a spell. Stepping up to 2000m last start in the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes, her stamina shone through by leading from start to finish and beating the Oaks favourite Unforgotten by 1.8 lengths. Having drawn the rail (1) on Saturday, Michael Dee will settle just behind the leaders and put Hiyaam to sleep on the fence. With her superior stamina and a good run in transit, Hiyaam will prove hard to catch.
Japanese stayer Pre Stwick could well be the knock out horse in the Sydney Cup (Sydney Race 8, 3200m). This 7YO has undoubted stamina having won 3 races over 2600m in Japan. He ran a good 5th last start in the Diamond Stakes (3400m) on 17th February behind former Melbourne Cup favourite Fame Game. Track watchers have reported that Pre Stwick has put in a solid workout at Canterbury during the week. Pre Stwick will be down in the weight with only 53kg in the Sydney Cup. Hong Kong champion jockey Joao Moreira will make the trip to Sydney to ride the horse and that’s a good sign. Currently at $12.00 in the fixed odds market, Pre Stwick represents a good value bet.
By Owens Wong, Editor
