A field of gun autumn sprinters face off at Rosehill Gardens this Saturday in the 2017 The Galaxy, a full form guide analysis and betting preview for the Golden Slipper Day showdown found below.

Set to run as Rosehill Race 8 at 4:50pm (AEDT), there are fourteen short-distance specialists in the mix for this year’s $700,000 Group 1 The Galaxy (1100m).

In a wide open The Galaxy betting affair at Ladbrokes.com.au, seven of the hopefuls are under $10 for the win including the current $5 favourite Russian Revolution.

The Peter & Paul Snowden-trained Snitzel colt is out to be the first three-year-old The Galaxy winner in seven years and races for the first time since his Flemington fourth to Flying Artie in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) last October.

He won his opening four career starts before that including the Group 2 Roman Consul Stakes (1200m) over Astern at Randwick.

Soft tracks are his go and he comes off successive Randwick trial wins including a 1050m effort on March 7 defeating Raiment by two lengths on a Heavy (8) suggesting he’ll get around in the mud should it come down for the weekend’s racing.

The main dangers looking at the latest The Galaxy odds include dual Challenge Stakes winning mare English ($6), four-time Group 1 placed Fell Swoop ($7.50) out to improve on his fourth in the race last year and the other Team Snowden-trained Redzel ($8) who is a gun over the 1100m (8-4-1-1).

Below we have a good look over The Galaxy 2017 form guide, betting history and statistics to sort the sprinters to back and sack on Saturday.

2017 The Galaxy Form Facts & Betting Stats

• Last year’s The Galaxy winner was the David Brideoake-trained mare Griante (2016) who came off a 12^th in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield and was ridden to victory on 51kg by Craig Williams from barrier 1 (of 14) as a $16 roughie in betting
• Jockey Craig Williams (10-2-1-1) chases back-to-back The Galaxy wins as a hoop for the first time since Chris Munce (2003-04) aboard #8 Supido ($9.50)
• Williams also rode the 2009 winner Nicconi to victory so is after his third The Galaxy victory in 2017
• The other previous The Galaxy winning jockeys with a ride this weekend are: Blake Shinn (6-1-1-1) on #3 English, Dwayne Dunn (4-1-0-0) on #6 Redzel and Kerrin McEvoy (10-1-1-0) on #12 Russian Revolution
• The previous The Galaxy winning trainers with a runner on Saturday are: Gai Waterhouse (15-2-2-1) with #3 English; David Hayes (5-1-0-0) with #5 Faatinah and #10 Miss Promiscuity; and Matthew Ellerton (6-1-0-0) with #7 Heatherly
• Griante (2016) was the second mare on the trot to win the race following Sweet Idea (2015) who are the only mares since Bronze Spirit (1983) to take out The Galaxy
• There are four mares in the race this year: #3 English, #7 Heatherly, #9 Felines and #10 Miss Promiscuity
• #13 Missrock ($61) is the only filly in The Galaxy field and the only filly to win the race in over 30 years was La Baraka (1998)
• Last year’s winning barrier (1) has produced five The Galaxy winners (since 1983) and belongs this year to #13 Missrock

• The other most successful The Galaxy barriers in that time also producing five wins are 7 and 11 drawn on Saturday by #1 Music Magnate (7) and #6 Redzel (11)
• The Oakleigh Plate has produced two The Galaxy winners in the past decade with neither running in the money in the lead-up
• The Oakleigh Plate graduates in the field on Saturday are: Faatinah (2^nd), Miss Promiscuity (5^th) and Fell Swoop (6^th)
• Only one The Galaxy winner (since 1983) came off a last start win – Jetball (1994); #3 English (Group 2 Challenge Stakes, 1000m, Randwick, 04/03/2017); #7 Heatherly (Listed Bob Hoysted, 1000m, Flemington, 04/03/2017); and #13 Missrock (F&M – SW+P, 1100m, Flemington, 04/03/2017) are the three last-start winners out to break the hoodoo this year

• Five-year-olds have the best recent record in the race with four wins in the past six years; the 5YOs out to continue the trend this year are: #1 Music Magnate, #2 Fell Swoop, #8 Supido and #9 Felines
• Favourites have a very poor record in The Galaxy with only three wins since 1983 and the last to salute was Snowland (2003)
• The past seven The Galaxy winners jumped at double-figure odds with the biggest upset in that time being Shellscrape ($21 in 2010)
• Shellscrape was also the last three-year-old The Galaxy winner
• There are three three-year-olds in the mix this year with the aforementioned filly #13 Missrock plus #14 Glenall and #12 Russian Revolution
• #12 Russian Revolution ($5) is favourite in The Galaxy betting 2017 out to break the hoodoo of top fancies in the sprint

• #1 Music Magnate (58kg) carries top weight in The Galaxy field and no winner of the race has carried more than 57kg to victory since Mr Tiz (58.5kg in 1991)
• The highest Win Rate of the field belongs to #12 Russian Revolution (80%) followed by #8 Supido (55%)
• The best Place Rate of the field belongs to #14 Glenall (100%) followed by #7 Heatherly (86%) and #8 Supido (82%)
• The only previous winners at the Rosehill track are: #1 Music Magnate (4-2-1-1) and #2 Fell Swoop (3-2-0-0)
• The previous winners over the 1100m distance are: #6 Redzel (8-4-1-1), #10 Miss Promiscuity (10-3-2-1), #7 Heatherly (4-2-0-1), #8 Supido (2-2-0-0), #12 Russian Revolution (2-2-0-0), #2 Fell Swoop (5-1-1-1), #4 Big Money (3-1-1-0), #5 Faatinah (2-1-1-0), #9 Felines (10-1-1-2), #14 Glenall (2-1-1-0) and #13 Missrock (2-1-0-0)
• The proven Heavy track performers are: #11 Jungle Edge (5-3-0-0), #6 Redzel (4-1-1-1), #1 Music Magnate (2-1-0-0), #3 English (1-1-0-0) and #9 Felines (4-1-0-0)

Stay tuned for our insider The Galaxy 2017 race tips, checking out the complete form guide below in the meantime courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au.