The Festival Stakes meeting will be held at Rosehill Gardens this Saturday (28th November). The course proper was rated a Good 4 on Thursday and with fine and hot weather in Sydney leading up to the weekend, Rosehill will be racing on a Good track on raceday.
Debut winner Sliders can continue her winning way in the opening event at Rosehill (Sydney Race 1, 1100m). This 2YO filly won the Max Lees Classic on debut at Newcastle two weeks ago. She sat outside the leader and sprinted the last 600m in a very fast 32.96 secs which gave nothing else a chance. Winning rider Rachel King will once again be on board on Saturday. Nicely drawn in barrier 3, King will box seat behind the leaders with a cosy run and Sliders is the one they have to beat.
Godolphin-owned mare Plaquette has conditions to suit in the Iron Jack Handicap (Sydney Race 5, 1100m). The 4YO won well when first-up over 1100m at Kensington before she was beaten by Blazing Miss when dropping back in trip. Plaquette was four weeks between runs when racing down the Flemington straight (1100m) last start where she didn’t look completely comfortable but was still good enough to finish 3rd. She is fitter again when fourth-up on Saturday. Though Plaquette had three placings on Soft tracks, the mare is much better on dry track so the firm surface will be a bonus. With a fair bit of pace in the race, Bowman will settle towards the tail of the field and Plaquette will be charging down the Rosehill straight.
Team Hawkes is looking to take out another feature race with Outrageous in the Festival Stakes (Sydney Race 7, 1500m). This All Too Hard gelding won brilliantly first-up at Flemington over 1400m three weeks ago. Outrageous has a pretty good second-up record with two wins and a placing from 5 attempts. The 5YO has only been allotted 1kg above the limit (54kg) and from barrier 9, Tommy Berry will go forward and park outside likely leader Irithea and Outrageous could prove hard to catch.
By Owens Wong, Editor
