Lark Hill trainer Darren McAuliffe has accepted for Rebel King to return to racing first-up at Ascot Racecourse on Saturday in the RS Crawford Stakes 2016.
Chris Parnham rides Malibu Style in the 2016 R.S. Crawford Stakes at Ascot in Perth this weekend. Photo: Adrienne Bicknell.
The Universal Ruler five-year-old hasn’t had a start since September and is one of just eight hopeful sprinters in this year’s $100,000 Listed Budget Car & Truck Rental R.S. Crawford Stakes (1000m).
Due to run as Ascot Race 5 at 3:25pm (WA time), the RS Crawford Stakes is one of three black-type Perth races on the AJ Scahill Stakes Day card.
Rebel King gets the run of the race in the short-distance showdown jumping from barrier one with William Pike booked for the ride.
With a strong first-up record (6-1-1-2), Rebel King also trialled well at home over 950m in late November and is looking to break his Ascot maiden at his eighth start at the course.
Drawn in barrier two for apprentice hoop Jordan Turner is McAuliffe’s other runner Furious Dame getting in on just 53kg in the set weights plus penalties showdown.
An ultra-consistent daughter of Universal Ruler, the five-year-old mare has run top three in her past four starts including a second at the track and distance by the barest of margins on November 19 carrying 56.5kg.
The only last start winner in the line-up is the Roy Rogers-trained Secret Remedy stallion from Albany, the six-year-old coming off back-to-back wins at Mount Barker.
The galloper has had four runs at Ascot for just the one third place finish and so will need to be at his best to perform in black-type class at the course on Saturday.
Dropping down in grade is the Chris Gangemi-trained Snitzel gelding Bourne Supremacy who ran third last time out in the Group 3 Colonel Reeves Stakes (1100m) behind Vega Magic on November 12.
He’s had a little freshen-up since and getting back to his pet distance of 1000m could be hard to hold out as he has finished worse than second just once from nine runs over the metres (9-4-4-0).
Other notable hopes include the Jim Taylor-trained Stratum six-year-old Gigante dropping to 54kg after his fourth over 1200m at the track under 59kg two weeks back and Magnus gelding Malibu Style who also ran third at Ascot last time out.
See below for the full RS Crawford Stakes 2016 field, barriers and jockeys with Ladbrokes.com.au set to release markets on the weekend’s Perth races shortly.
2016 R.S. Crawford Stakes Final Field & Barrier Draw
Ascot Race 5 (3:25pm) – 10/12/2016
| # | Form (Last 10) | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Br. | Wgt. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8x4043316x | REBEL KING | Darren Mcauliffe | William Pike | 1 | 56.5kg |
| 2 | 6x3548x020 | SMOKO | Ross Price | Troy Turner | 8 | 56.5kg |
| 3 | 12421×1324 | GIGANTE | Jim P Taylor | Jason Brown | 4 | 55kg |
| 4 | x7805x3458 | FLYTEGO | David Harrison | Patrick Carbery | 5 | 55kg |
| 5 | x331298x93 | MALIBU STYLE | Neville Parnham | Chris Parnham | 3 | 55kg |
| 6 | 671152×753 | BOURNE SUPREMACY | Chris Gangemi | Peter Knuckey | 6 | 55kg |
| 7 | 011149×011 | POTENT SECRET | Roy Rogers | Ms Jerry Noske | 7 | 55kg |
| 8 | x352152332 | FURIOUS DAME | Darren Mcauliffe | Jordan Turner (a) | 2 | 53kg |
