The action of the 2011 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival continues at Randwick this Saturday, February 12, with Light Fingers Stakes Day.
Nominations for the day’s marquee event, the $200,000 Group 2 Light Fingers Stakes (1200m), have been taken with 17 three-year-old fillies making up the early entries.
The 2010 Light Fingers Stakes was won by the punters favourite, the Gai Waterhouse-trained glamour mare More Joyous.
This year Waterhouse will be represented in the 2011 Light Fingers Stakes by the up-and-coming More Strawberries, likely to start the favourite in the betting markets at Luxbet.
More Strawberries is resuming for the season after a successful spring that included back-to-back wins in the Group 2 Furious Stakes (1400m) at Randwick and the Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill.
The filly also finished a gallant second, beaten by a head by Secret irer in the Group 1 Coolmore Flight Stakes (1600m) before placing sixth in the Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield last start on October 13.
On Saturday More Strawberries comes into the Light Fingers Stakes on the back of two winning barrier trials at Randwick during January.
Coolmore Flight Stakes winner Secret irer is also set to resume in the Light Fingers on Saturday, kicking off her autumn campaign that will hopefully culminate with a run in the $600,000 Group 1 Coolmore Classic (1500m) at Rosehill on March 19.
Grahame Begg’s talented daughter of Dubawi won the Group 1 Flight Stakes at just her fourth career start and her first Group assignment during the spring and is tipped for a stunning autumn campaign.
Other favourites in the Light Fingers Stakes nominations include the Peter Snowden-trained stablemates Obsequious and Parables.
Lonhro filly Parables won the Group 3 Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m) first-up in August last year, continuing on to run an eye-catching third to More Strawberries in the Furious Stakes and then a narrow second behind her again in the Tea Rose.
Most recently, Parables was third in the Flight Stakes but gets her chance for revenge coming up against More Strawberries and Secret irer again on Saturday.
Lesser-known runners that could face off against the favourites in the Light Fingers this year include Chris Waller’s consistent Dane Shadow filly Red Tracer, the David Pfieffer-trained Gai’s Choice stepping up to Group company for the first time after winning back-to-back races this year, and Hussonet filly Slow The Flow.
The 2011 Light Fingers Stakes final field and barrier draw will be released on Wednesday February 9 and published here at Races.com.au.
Ensure you don’t settle for second best odds with your weekend wagers by g up with the Tabcorp-owned and trusted online bookmaker Luxbet now.
2011 Light Fingers Stakes Nominations
| # | Horse | Trainer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BRIDE SALAMA | Anthony Cummings |
| 2 | CATALAN MISS | Gillian Heinrich |
| 3 | GAI’S CHOICE | David Pfieffer |
| 4 | M’LADY PEDRILLE | Ron Quinton |
| 5 | MISS GAI FLYER | Peter G Moody |
| 6 | MORE STRAWBERRIES | Gai Waterhouse |
| 7 | MOSSRIVER | David Murphy |
| 8 | OBSEQUIOUS | Peter Snowden |
| 9 | PARABLES | Peter Snowden |
| 10 | PARRIWI | Kris Lees |
| 11 | POSH CHIC | Kevin Moses |
| 12 | POTIONS | John P Thompson |
| 13 | RED TRACER | Chris Waller |
| 14 | SECRET IRER | Grahame Begg |
| 15 | SLOW THE FLOW | Matthew Smith |
| 16 | STORM BURST | Peter G Moody |
| 17 | WHO’S READY | Alan Scorse |
