The end of the Flemington Cup Carnival is here and what better way to close it out than with star-studded fields on Champions Stakes Day this Saturday. OTI owners are chasing their share of success with Lady Laguna, Docklands and Amade all set to feature at stakes level.
The 1200m Group 1 Champions Sprint shapes as one of the best short course races this year. Lady Laguna, now considered an ultra-consistent Group 1 performer, deserves her place in this field and heads to Flemington off the back of a solid 3rd placing in the $3m Russell Balding Stakes. She will meet Bella Nipotina and Sunshine In Paris again, who both beat her home last Saturday, but it’s felt our mare will improve again for that run. She has performed well on the back up before and has thrived through the week. A bold performance would not shock us as she builds towards a potential tilt at the Winterbottom and Gold Rush in Perth.
Lady Laguna finished 3rd in the $3mRussell Balding Stakes last start.
Docklands will contest the 2000m Group 1 Champions Stakes following his creditable performance in the Cox Plate. He looked to have 3 rd sewn up at The Valley but felt the pinch late on, with trainer Harry Eustace convinced we’ll take good improvement into Saturday. Of course, the Cox Plate winner Via Sistina looks mighty hard to beat but if our entire can take a step forward for his Valley outing and find himself in a less brutally run 2000m event, he has strong top 3-claims. One thing is for sure and that’s that Docklands is in wonderful order at Werribee and appears to be thoroughly enjoying his time down under.
Docklands is feeling well at Werribee.
The old marvel Amade continues his spring campaign in the 2600m Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes. A strong Flemington performer, the gelding is racing in great form as evidenced by his 3rd placing in the Bart Cummings Stakes and sound 5 th in the Geelong Cup. In the latter, he didn’t quite have the luck needed to feature in the finish and wasn’t particularly fond of the firm footing. A horse that loves to give his all, we’re confident he and Mark Zahra will be thereabouts in the finish.
Amade finished 3rd in Group 3 Bart Cummings Stakes.
It was great to get a winner at headquarters on Cup Day with Cloudland, and we’d love to add to that success on Champions Stakes Day!