The major act on the Railway Stakes Day card at Ascot in Perth this Saturday is the W.A. Guineas 2016, nominations for which feature the Simon Miller-trained filly Whispering Brook.
Damien Oliver is booked to ride filly I Am Boudica in Saturday’s 2016 W.A. Guineas field in Perth. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.
Originally Perth Racing took 99 nominations for the $500,000 Group 1 W.A. Guineas (1600m), but a host of early scratchings have the early entries down to 23 young milers.
Of the fillies possibly taking on the boys in the WA Guineas field this Perth Summer Racing Carnival, the highest-rated is Whispering Brook.
She is undefeated at Ascot with four wins at the track, the latest of which was the Group 3 W.A. Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) as a two-year-old in mid-April.
Her four runs as a three-year-old this campaign have all been in Melbourne, highlighted by her third to Global Glamour at Caulfield in the Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m).
Whispering Brook was last seen failing to match the older mares when beaten six lengths for 13th in the Group 1 Myer Classic (1600m) at Flemington on Derby Day.
Her trainer said she’s a chance to race back at home this weekend looking to cap off her season with a win, so long as she runs well in track work on Tuesday morning.
“I put her in the paddock for a week after she got home and she seems bright and happy, but I’ll give her a good gallop tomorrow and see how she recovers through that,’’ Miller told Racing Victoria.
“Any sign she’s had enough. I’ll just bunk her out, but at the moment she looks on track for Saturday.”
There are three other fillies still among the WA Guineas entries including I Am Boudica and Ellicazoom who ran third and second respectively behind Samovare in last weekend’s Group 3 W.A. Champion Fillies Stakes (1600m).
I Am Boudica will be ridden by visiting interstate hoop Damien Oliver, while the Neville Parnham-trained Black-Type winner Ellicazoom has Steven Parnham booked for the ride.
Early favourite in pre-field WA Guineas odds at Ladbrokes.com.au is Saul’s Special, the Dan Morton-trained Charge Forward colt paying an all-in price of $6.
He is in flying form including the Listed Fairetha Stakes (1400m) win at the track on November 5 and is back in Group company for the first time since his second to Whispering Brook in the autumn.
Morton also still has Lusaha in the mix, the son of More Than Ready coming off a close third to his stablemate when only a half-length away in the Fairetha Stakes.
Champion Victorian jockey Craig Williams is over in W.A. on Saturday before heading to Singapore for a ride the next day, and rides Lusaha in the WA Guineas field.
See below for the latest round of W.A. Guineas 2016 nominations, the final field and barriers out on Wednesday.
Also don’t forget to check out the early pricing on the possible runners open now at Ladbrokes.com.au.
2016 W.A. Guineas Nominations
Ascot Racecourse – 19/11/2016
| # | Horse | Wgt. | Rating | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WHISPERING BROOK | 54.5kg | 88 | Peter Knuckey | Simon A. Miller |
| 2 | SAUL’S SPECIAL | 56.5kg | 76 | Brad Parnham | Daniel Morton |
| 3 | THE CELT | 56.5kg | 74 | TBA | Vaughn Sigley |
| 4 | I AM BOUDICA | 54.5kg | – | Damien Oliver | Vernon Brockham |
| 5 | ELLICAZOOM | 54.5kg | – | Steven Parnham | Neville Parnham |
| 6 | MINUS LOOKS | 56.5kg | 69 | Shaun McGruddy | Steve Wolfe |
| 7 | WRINKLY | 56.5kg | 66 | TBA | Neville Parnham |
| 8 | GET OVER IT | 56.5kg | 67 | William Pike | Trevor Andrews |
| 9 | LUSAHA | 56.6kg | 65 | Craig Williams | Daniel Morton |
| 10 | JAZARI | 56.5kg | 66 | Chris Parnham | Neville Parnham |
| 11 | ONE SHORT | 56.6kg | 64 | Peter Hall | Steve Wolfe |
| 12 | VARIATION | 56.5kg | 65 | Damian Lane | Stephen Miller |
| 13 | HUMANITY | 56.5kg | 67 | TBA | Lindsey Smith |
| 14 | HURRICANE JACK | 56.5kg | – | TBA | Neville Parnham |
| 15 | GEIGER GEM | 56.5kg | 66 | Jarrad Noske | Lou Luciani |
| 16 | FINAL SALUTE | 56.5kg | 62 | TBA | Grant & Alana Williams |
| 17 | PERSIAN PRINCESS | 54.5kg | 58 | TBA | Alan Mathews |
| 18 | STORM DANCER | 56.5kg | 62 | TBA | John Lugg |
| 19 | SLICK MOVER | 56.5kg | 61 | TBA | Brian Kersley |
| 20 | RAGAZZO D’ORO | 56.5kg | – | TBA | David Harrison |
| 21 | DRIVIN’ ME WILD | 56.5kg | – | TBA | Ken Adams |
| 22 | YEAH DARDY | 56.5kg | – | TBA | Justine Erkelens |
| 23 | MYCROFT | 56.5kg | – | TBA | Duane Kitchingman |
