Neville Parnham-trained Excelorada has the opportunity to become the first horse since Metallic Storm to win the 2013 Crawford Stakes in back-to-back years when he contests the Listed event at Ascot on Saturday.
Excelorada finished his 2012 Perth Summer Racing Carnival campaign with back-to-back wins in the Crawford Stakes (1000m) and Listed Summer Scorcher (1000m) but has failed to fire since returning to the races in October.
The Exceed And Excel gelding had no chance after Chris Parnham lost an iron in the Crown Perth Sprint (1000m) at Belmont Park on October 12 and beat home just a single runner when finishing seventh behind Barakey in the Group 3 Prince Of Wales Stakes (1200m).
Excelorada finished well back in the Group 3 Colonel Reeves Stakes (1100m) and finished seven and a half lengths behind Buffering and Moment Of Change in the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) before producing an improved effort in the Crown Perth Sprint on November 30.
The six-year-old will likely need a fair amount of luck to win the 2013 Crawford Stakes from barrier ten and Barrosa Boy (1991 and 1992) and Metallic Storm (2006 and 2007) as back-to-back winners of the $80,000 race.
Adam Durrant-trained Beach Express has been allocated the top-weight of 59kg in the Listed event and will jump from barrier number five with leading Perth jockey Daniel Staeck on his back.
Beach Express has previously had success in the Listed W.A.T.C. Stakes (1100m) and Listed Northam Toyota Stakes (1100m) but has been outclassed in his three starts this campaign; finishing sixth in the Crown Perth Sprint, tenth in the Colonel Reeves Stakes and seventh in the Winterbottom Stakes.
Also backing up from the Winterbottom Stakes is The Rising (barrier two) who stamped himself as a genuine Group contender with an impressive victory over Mendicity and Watermans Bay in the Colonel Reeves Stakes.
The Flying Pegasus entire has recorded seven wins from 11 career starts and trainer Trevor Andrews is confident that he can return to his best form in the Crawford Stakes this weekend after finishing tenth in the Winterbottom Stakes.
The full 2013 Crawford Stakes final field can be found in the table below.
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2013 Crawford Stakes Final Field
| No | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 451121×607 | BEACH EXPRESS | Adam Durrant | Daniel Staeck | 5 | 59kg |
| 2 | 2111×87805 | EXCELORADA | Neville Parnham | Steven Parnham | 10 | 58.5kg |
| 3 | 1x1614x510 | THE RISING | Trevor Andrews | Paul Harvey | 2 | 57kg |
| 4 | 258x78300x | ACORNS | Kristy Casey | Shaun O’Donnell | 7 | 55kg |
| 5 | x11213x704 | DOMINATING | Neville Parnham | Brad Parnham | 6 | 55kg |
| 6 | 116x71132x | DUETON | Eric Wake | Jason Whiting | 1 | 55kg |
| 7 | 64597x496x | HIGHLY TOXIC (NZ) | Vaughn Sigley | Colin Haddon | 11 | 55kg |
| 8 | 9x111x2231 | MAGNIFISIO | Jim P Taylor | Jason Brown | 4 | 55kg |
| 9 | 3215121998 | MILITARY SECRET | Trevor Andrews | Shaun Mc Gruddy | 8 | 55kg |
| 10 | 4343412240 | RECODE | Adam Durrant | Peter Knuckey | 3 | 55kg |
| 11 | 40×4251752 | TEEN IDOL | Sonya Price | William Pike | 12 | 55kg |
| 12 | 38x8x2544x | THE ENTOURAGE | Chris Gangemi | Craig Staples | 9 | 55kg |
