A bumper nineteen final acceptances make up the official Coolmore Classic 2017 field at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse this Saturday in Sydney.
Trainer Guy Walter is after a second Coolmore Classic win on the trot saddling-up Dixie Blossoms in the 2017 edition this Saturday in Sydney. Photo: Steve Hart.
Running as Rosehill Race 7 at 4:15pm (AEDT), this season’s $600,000 Group 1 Coolmore Classic (1500m) has attracted just one under capacity with plenty of depth among the fillies and mares facing off in the handicap clash.
Heading the Coolmore Classic weights on 58kg and suffering an early blow drawing out wide in barrier 17 is John Thompson’s Group 1 winner First Seal.
She hasn’t raced since a close eighth in the Group 1 Myer Classic (1600m) at Flemington in the spring, but has been brought on fitness-wise with two winning Sydney trials.
First Seal is out to make history however as the first Coolmore Classic winner from wider than barrier 16 in over 30 years and has Blake Shinn – who won the race aboard Appearance (2013) – in the saddle first-up.
Thompson has also accepted for Bernardini six-year-old Zanbagh who comes off a second in the mud at Randwick a fortnight back behind Dixie Blossoms in the Group 2 Guy Walter Stakes (1400m).
That race produced last year’s Coolmore Classic winner Peeping (3rd in 2016) and the Guy Walter Stakes winner Dixie Blossoms also features in the Group 1 rematch on Saturday.
Prepared by last year’s winning trainer Ron Quinton, Dixie Blossoms is third-up on the weekend and proved her mudlark status running away with the Guy Walter Stakes by over six lengths.
Any rain around in Sydney this weekend puts her right in the mix again, despite the four-year-old going up from 55kg to 56kg.
Tim Clark retains the ride and Dixie Blossoms jumps from barrier 12, the same barrier her ill-fated stablemate Peeping won from last Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival.
There are three other last start winners in the Coolmore Classic field this season including the Benjamin Smith-trained In Her Time chasing a fifth win on the trot.
The Newcastle-based daughter of Time Thief is undefeated this preparation and was last seen winning the Group 2 Millie Fox Stakes (1300m) at the Rosehill track on February 18 carrying 56kg to her 2.3 length win.
Joshua Parr retains the ride on the weekend from gate 10 where In Her Time gets in on the same weight.
Also out to extend winning streaks are the Andrew Noblet-trained Silent Sedition in the second widest barrier (18 of 19) and the Australian Oaks-bound Kiwi raider La Bella Diosa drawn a treat in gate three.
Silent Sedition has finished in the money in her ten latest starts going back to March last year including a Group 1 Schweppes Oaks (2000m) second in Adelaide and last start Group 3 Mannerism Stakes (1400m) victory at Caulfield.
She heads to Sydney for first time on the weekend and how she handles the nasty barrier and right-handed way of racing will be key to her keeping the place-getting streak in order.
La Bella Diosa debuted down under for Mandy & Matt Brown winning the Group 2 Surround Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on a Heavy (9) track.
The three-year-old daughter of So You Think won the Group 1 NZ 1000 Guineas (1600m) the start before back home in November and tracks towards a Group 1 Australian Oaks (2400m) run at Randwick in April.
See below for the full Coolmore Classic 2017 field, barriers, jockeys and weights before heading to Ladbrokes.com.au for the best markets on the race this weekend at the home of Odds Boost (T&Cs apply).
2017 Coolmore Classic Final Field & Barrier Draw
Rosehill Race 7 (4:15pm) – 11/03/2017
| # | Form (Last 10) | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | H. Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | x1240x518x | FIRST SEAL | John P Thompson | Blake Shinn | 17 | 58kg | 109 |
| 2 | 2x20214x31 | DIXIE BLOSSOMS | Ron Quinton | Tim Clark | 12 | 56kg | 105 |
| 3 | x9205x1111 | IN HER TIME | Benjamin Smith | Joshua Parr | 10 | 56kg | 105 |
| 4 | x3611x9213 | GLOBAL GLAMOUR | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Kerrin McEvoy | 16 | 55.5kg | 105 |
| 5 | 22x41670x9 | HEAVENS ABOVE | Tim Martin | Tye Angland | 4 | 55kg | 103 |
| 6 | x402211Fx7 | SINGLE GAZE | Nick Olive | Ms Kathy O’Hara | 5 | 55kg | 103 |
| 7 | 14x3111x1 | LA BELLA DIOSA (NZ) | Mandy & Matt Brown | Jay Ford | 3 | 54.5kg | 103 |
| 8 | 118x359x47 | DANISH TWIST | Kris Lees | Glyn Schofield | 1 | 54.5kg | 102 |
| 9 | 212x231x21 | SILENT SEDITION | Andrew Noblet | Sam Clipperton | 18 | 54.5kg | 102 |
| 10 | x672162x88 | FRENCH EMOTION | Chris Waller | Chad Lever | 13 | 54kg | 101 |
| 11 | 3x12x210x2 | EURO ANGEL (NZ) | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | TBA | 2 | 53kg | 99 |
| 12 | 10x2248x42 | THAMES COURT | David Brideoake | Daniel Moor | 6 | 53kg | 99 |
| 13 | 515x0560x2 | ZANBAGH | John P Thompson | Christian Reith | 8 | 53kg | 99 |
| 14 | 129x12x2 | OMEI SWORD | Chris Waller | Brenton Avdulla | 19 | 52.5kg | 99 |
| 15 | 111×84 | ABBEY MARIE | Michael Kent | TBA | 11 | 52kg | 97 |
| 16 | 2x44434x24 | DENMAGIC | David Pfieffer | TBA | 9 | 52kg | 97 |
| 17 | 111x5411x3 | DAYSEE DOOM | Ron Quinton | Andrew Adkins (a) | 15 | 51kg | 93 |
| 18 | 13x68x2305 | SOLD FOR SONG | Kevin Kemp | Luke Tarrant | 14 | 51kg | 90 |
| 19 | 1x51024x94 | SHILLELAGH (NZ) | Chris Waller | Johan Victoire | 7 | 51kg | 88 |
