Three year old So Si Bon will take on the older horses in the Group 2 $300,000 Quayclean Zipping Classic (2400m) at Sandown on Saturday.
Who Shot Thebarman, above, is chasing back to back wins in the Zipping Classic at Sandown. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Trainer Robbie Laing had also nominated So Si Bon for the Group 2 $250,000 Ladbrokes Sandown Guineas (1600m) for the three year olds but chose to go with the weight for age Zipping Classic where he gets a massive weight advantage from the older horses.
Under the weight for age conditions three year old colts only have to carry 50.5kg over the 2400m while So Si Bon’s nearest rival to him in the weights with 57kg is the five year old mare Beautiful Romance who has drawn barrier five with Glyn Schofield in the saddle.
Craig Williams replaces Hugh Bowman on So Si Bon who has drawn the outside barrier in the eight horse field.
Laing will also saddle up Tristram’s Sun (barrier 7) who is coming off a last start third in the $100,000 Kyneton Cup (2000m) at Kyneton on November 2.
Number one saddlecloth holder Who Shot Thebarman from the Chris Waller stable has drawn the inside barrier and is coming off a last start fifth to Almandin in the Group 1 $6m Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on November 1.
Almandin was one of four Lloyd Williams owned stayers who were nominated for the Zipping Classic after running in the Melbourne Cup but none have been final acceptors the race.
Williams’ other non-acceptors were Melbourne Cup thirteenth placegetter Bondi Beach, Assign (nineteenth) and Gallante (twentieth).
The Michael Bell trained English stayer Big Orange is coming off a Melbourne Cup tenth and has drawn barrier two in the Zipping Classic with Damian Lane taking over the reins from English jockey James Spencer.
The Lindsay Park trained Almoonqith (Melbourne Cup sixth) has Damien Oliver in the saddle replacing Michael Walker and will jump from barrier four in the Zipping Classic.
Beautiful Romance’s stablemate Secret Number will carry the Godolphin royal blue colours for trainer Saeed Bin Suroor and the seven year old will jump from gate six with Stephen Baster retaining the mount after the pair finished twenty-first in the Melbourne Cup.
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2016 Zipping Classic Field
| No | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 324×652725 | WHO SHOT THEBARMAN (NZ) | Chris Waller | Hugh Bowman | 1 | 59kg |
| 2 | x5x23x11x0 | BIG ORANGE (GB) | Michael Bell | Damian Lane | 2 | 59kg |
| 3 | 9065×80846 | ALMOONQITH (USA) | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Damien Oliver | 4 | 59kg |
| 4 | 61x2x12x10 | SECRET NUMBER (GB) | Saeed Bin Suroor | Stephen Baster | 6 | 59kg |
| 5 | 3087×70873 | TRISTRAM’S SUN (NZ) | Robbie Laing | Kerrin McEvoy | 7 | 59kg |
| 6 | 7029×96238 | TRANSFER ALLOWANCE | Peter Roche | Chris Symons | 3 | 59kg |
| 7 | 6153×15537 | BEAUTIFUL ROMANCE (GB) | Saeed Bin Suroor | Glyn Schofield | 5 | 57kg |
| 8 | 26×16534 | SO SI BON | Robbie Laing | Craig Williams | 8 | 50.5kg |
