Race favourite Vega Magic has come up trumps with a favourable barrier three draw for Saturday’s Memsie Stakes 2017 field at Caulfield Racecourse.
Vega Magic has drawn into Saturday’s Memsie Stakes field ideally in barrier 3. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos
The opening elite level of the spring season, this year’s Group 1 $1 million New Zealand Bloodstock Memsie Stakes (1400m) has attracted a star-studded field of 12.
Leading the Memsie Stakes odds online at Ladbrokes.com.au and set to remain top of betting after the good draw is the Lindsay Park-trained W.A. expat Vega Magic.
Jockey Craig Williams chases his second win in the weigh-for-age feature since success aboard the mare Miss Finland (2007) who was also prepared by Vega Magic’s co-trainer David Hayes.
Lope De Vega five-year-old Vega Magic had his first Caulfield run first-up on August 19 and showed an instant affinity with the course winning the Listed Regal Roller Stakes (1200m).
He is up to 1400m for the first time since a win in Group 3 class back in Perth last December and is out to become a dual Group 1 winner following success in Adelaide’s The Goodwood (1200m) in late May.
The Lindsay Park stable are dually represented in this year’s Memsie Stakes field with Vega Magic to be ed in the line-up by the returning Mackinnon Stakes runner-up Seaburge drawn the outside barrier (12).
Reigning Memsie Stakes winner Black Heart Bart is the other top elect in the markets this year, Darren Weir’s gun galloper jumping from gate five with Brad Rawiller aboard.
A genuine 1400m Caulfield specialist, the Blackfriars seven-year-old is out to improve on his first-up third to Hartnell here a fortnight back in the Group 2 P.B. Lawrence Stakes (1400m).
Among Black Heart Bart’s four wins at the track and distance are the CF Orr Stakes, Futurity Stakes and last year’s Memsie Stakes.
If successful on Saturday he will become the first successive Memsie Stakes winner since Sunline (2000-01) and the first seven-year-old champion in the race since the mighty Makybe Diva in 2005.
Weir boasts three Memsie Stakes acceptors this season with Black Heart Bart ed by stablemates Tosen Stardom and Humidor drawn in barriers four and 11 respectively.
Japanese import Tosen Stardom comes off a fifth in the P.B. Lawrence Stakes when beaten just four lengths and has good form against this class including this second to Black Heart Bart in the autumn’s Futurity Stakes.
Humidor is also proven in Group 1 company with the son of Teofilo winning Flemington’s Australian Cup (2000m), defeating Caulfield Cup winner Jameka, back on March 11.
Jamkea turned the tables a fortnight later when Humidor finished runner-up in the Group 1 The BMW (2400m) and he comes into Saturday’s Memsie Stakes on the back of a P.B. Lawrence Stakes sixth.
Kris Lees’ multiple Group 1 champion Le Romain is at Caulfield for the first time on the weekend, the consistent Hard Spun gelding last seen running second to Invincible Gem in the Group 2 Missile Stakes (1200m) as the beaten favourite at Randwick a month ago.
He chases his first victory since beating Chautauqua in the mud in the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) in early March and jumps from barrier six with Ben Melham in the saddle.
Other key Memsie Stakes runners include returning ATC Derby winning Kiwi Jon Snow, the Tony McEvoy-trained Australian Guineas winner Hey Doc, and David Vandyke’s class mare Yankee Rose having her first run of the year and looking to return to the form that saw her run third to Winx in last October’s Cox Plate.
See below for the full Memsie Stakes 2017 field, barriers and jockeys before heading to Ladbrokes.com.au for the weekend’s best racing odds and offers.
2017 Memsie Stakes Final Field & Barrier Draw
Caulfield Race 7 (4:10pm) – 02/09/2017
| No | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | H Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9x211x75x3 | BLACK HEART BART | Darren Weir | Brad Rawiller | 5 | 59kg | 115 |
| 2 | 51x11202x2 | LE ROMAIN | Kris Lees | Ben Melham | 6 | 59kg | 115 |
| 3 | 709x4x22x5 | TOSEN STARDOM (JPN) | Darren Weir | Blake Shinn | 4 | 59kg | 109 |
| 4 | 29x42212x6 | HUMIDOR (NZ) | Darren Weir | Mark Zahra | 11 | 59kg | 112 |
| 5 | 1x9171x1x1 | VEGA MAGIC | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Craig Williams | 3 | 59kg | 111 |
| 6 | 9x60229x42 | CHARMED HARMONY | John Sadler | Ms Katelyn Mallyon | 2 | 59kg | 101 |
| 7 | 893337311x | JON SNOW (NZ) | Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman | Stephen Baster | 10 | 58.5kg | 108 |
| 8 | 34x31196x1 | HEY DOC | Tony McEvoy | Luke Currie | 1 | 58.5kg | 108 |
| 9 | 54282x060x | SEABURGE | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Regan Bayliss | 12 | 58.5kg | 105 |
| 10 | x70312612x | SINGLE GAZE | Nick Olive | Ms Kathy O’Hara | 9 | 57kg | 108 |
| 11 | 1x271183x4 | I AM A STAR (NZ) | Shane Nichols | Luke Nolen | 7 | 56.5kg | 107 |
| 12 | x21x6D130x | YANKEE ROSE | David Vandyke | Dean Yendall | 8 | 56.5kg | 108 |
