The Gerald Ryan-trained Menari has come up trumps with the inside alley for his lead-up run into the Golden Slipper Stakes, headlining the Skyline Stakes 2017 field at Royal Randwick this weekend.
Tim Clark (pictured on I Am Zelady) rides 2017 Golden Slipper Stakes-bound Menari in the Skyline Stakes field this Saturday at Randwick. Photo: Steve Hart.
Running as Randwick Race 4 at 2:35pm (AEDT) on Saturday as part of the Winx-led Chipping Norton Stakes Day program, this season’s $200,000 Group 2 Schweppes Skyline Stakes (1200m) features 11 hopeful two-year-old colts and geldings.
The Skyline Stakes winner is exempt from ballot for the world’s richest race for juveniles, the $3.5 million Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill on March 18.
Current top fancy of the Skyline Stakes contenders in futures Golden Slipper Stakes odds at Ladbrokes.com.au is Ryan’s promising son of Snitzel who is at $10 for the Group 1.
Menari won on debut over 1100m by nearly two lengths at Randwick in mid-January before returning a fortnight later to run second to Pariah – a top 2017 Blue Diamond Stakes contender in Melbourne this weekend – in Rosehill’s Group 3 Canonbury Stakes (1100m).
Getting the same barrier one draw as in the Canonbury, Menari gets the chance to atone and post his second win in the Skyline Stakes after going down by a length as the beaten favourite last start.
Also drawn well in the Skyline Stakes field jumping from barrier three with dual Golden Slipper winning jockey Tommy Berry to ride is the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Eden Roc.
Waterhouse has enjoyed a record six Golden Slipper Stakes wins over the years, most recently with Vancouver (2015), and could have a livewire chance again in 2017 after the Skyline Stakes is run and won.
Start Witness colt Eden Roc is out to break his maiden status third-up and was last seen running a strong third to Veranillo in the Listed Lonhro Plate (1100m) at Randwick on February 4.
The three other previous winners in the mix are David Payne’s last start Warwick Farm winner over 1200m in the wet Colesberg, the John O’Shea-trained Exceed And Excel colt Coruscate who saluted at Canterbury earlier in the month and Dracarys for last autumn’s Golden Slipper winning trainers Peter & Paul Snowden.
Other headline hopes in an open Skyline Stakes race this Saturday including the Mark Newnham-trained Diamond Tathagata who ran second to the Golden Slipper favourite She Will Reign in the Inglis Nursery in December and Gary Portelli’s Not A Single Doubt colt Single Bullet who has run second in both starts to date.
See below for the full Skyline Stakes 2017 field, barriers and jockeys with markets now available at Ladbrokes.com.au – the home of Odds Boost (T&Cs apply) – for this weekend’s races and the Golden Slipper race.
2017 Skyline Stakes Final Field & Barrier Draw
Randwick Race 4 (2:35pm) – 25/02/2017
| # | Form (Last 10) | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | H. Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6x561019x7 | LEEBAZ (NZ) | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Tommy Berry | 9 | 60kg | 110 |
| 2 | x3x00352x0 | AROD (IRE) | Chris Waller | Tye Angland | 4 | 58kg | 106 |
| 3 | 133x1111x6 | CHETWOOD | John O’Shea | Tim Clark | 2 | 57.5kg | 105 |
| 4 | x6025x7542 | BIG MONEY | Rodney Northam | Robert Thompson | 1 | 57kg | 104 |
| 5 | 1x6251162x | MCCREERY (GB) | Chris Waller | Hugh Bowman | 7 | 56kg | 102 |
| 6 | 21545×2433 | SNIPPETS LAND | Peter & Paul Snowden | Christian Reith | 6 | 56kg | 102 |
| 7 | 21x1782x16 | TESTASHADOW | Gary Portelli | Jason Collett | 3 | 55.5kg | 101 |
| 8 | x110x7111x | NEW TIPPERARY | Joseph Pride | Brenton Avdulla | 8 | 53kg | 88 |
| 9 | 76247×2768 | WOULDNT IT BE NICE | Paul Perry | Corey Brown | 5 | 53kg | 88 |
