If the Queen Elizabeth Stakes is not the path to enlightenment, it’ll do till we get one.
Without stretching things any, the two-minute test at Randwick on Saturday might well, or in fact should, make you realise why we’re all here, and what it’s all about.
Last spring, racing fans began to realise just what sort of planets were aligning in the world of Australian galloping, when it became apparent that one after another of the country’s finest thoroughbreds would be pointed towards this one race.
And now, miraculously and beautifully, after six months in which we’ve all checked our phones every 10 minutes to see if it was April 9 yet, it has actually come together and it’s finally here.
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Feast upon this for a host of racing talent: Verry Elleegant, Zaaki, Anamoe, Duais, I’m Thunderstruck, and Montefilia. It had been looking even juicier before one of the stars of last spring, Caulfield Cup winner Incentivise, became injured, but still, it’s just nuts: a $4 million multi-player heavyweight bout, over perhaps the most testing distance in racing – 2000 metres – under the most even conditions that exist, weight-for-age (WFA).
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It’s like one of those super hero movies where they all pile in together, only better, because it’s not one of those super hero movies.
Verry Elleegant, of course, has taken her place in the ranks of the great mares, winning last year’s Melbourne Cup among 11 Group 1 victories.
Zaaki is the stunning gelding who came from Britain to win seven of his past 11 starts here, some of them in awesome fashion. He was the shortest-priced Cox Plate favourite since Phar Lap last spring before sensationally having to be scratched on race morning due to an elevated temperature, but has bounced back and won his last start in Melbourne’s big $5 million All Star Mile last month.
Anamoe, trained by Bart Cummings’ grandson James, is the three-year-old colt who’s looking like the next big thing, who should probably have won that Cox Plate last spring but had his protest against the winner dismissed.
Duais, trained by Bart’s other grandson Ed, is fast positioning herself to become the next great mare, winning the G1 double of the Australian Cup and Tancred Stakes in her past two starts. The last mare to do that was Makybe Diva. No pressure or anything.
I’m Thunderstruck is the four-year-old gelding who won two majors last spring and could also achieve greatness, while Montefilia has won four G1s and also can’t be ruled out.
The Queen Elizabeth Stakes can actually lay a claim to being the oldest important race in Australia. Trouble is, that’s impeded by the fact it’s had several changes of name and distance. It has, however, been the Queen Elizabeth since 1954, and was first held, at Randwick, as the Queen’s Plate in 1851 – 10 years before the first Melbourne Cup and four years before the first VRC Derby, the widely acknowledged oldest Australian big race.
In any case, the event comes on a ballistic second day of Randwick’s autumn carnival featuring four Group 1s, the others being the Sydney Cup, the ATC Oaks, and the Queen Of The Turf Stakes.
What we don’t want, after all this waiting, is for rain in Sydney to really spoil things. But what are they chances of there being rain in Sydney?
We’re just being silly. Of course it will rain. Check wet track form.
Let’s take a look!
WHAT IS IT?
The Queen Elizabeth Stakes, a $4 million, weight-for-age event for three-year-olds and up over 2000m. The highlight of Day 2 of what officials have dubbed The Championships, or Randwick’s autumn carnival.
WHEN’S IT ON?
Drop everything on Saturday at 3.55pm AEST. It’s race 8 on a 10-race card starting at 11.40am and finishing at 5.10pm. Aside from the Queen Elizabeth there are the four other G1s and three G2s.
WHAT’S IT WORTH?
$4 million, with the winner snaffling $2.3 million. Prizemoney has been allocated all the way down to 12th place. But it’s in fact a high-quality nine horse field, meaning, err, three horses could finish behind the last-placegetter and still get paid? Not sure.
WHERE CAN YOU WATCH IT?
Channel 7 and Sky Racing. You can also listen on your local racing station, and FoxSports.com.au will have live news and updates, including video soon after the race. Racing NSW will also stream the race live on their website or app.
MAIN PLOTLINES
As feverishly touched on earlier, the QEII is an assemblage of several of the finest gallopers in the country. This was a race won by superhorse Winx three times, but she never had to confront a field this good. When official ratings of races are determined by an international body a bit later on, this is pretty certain to be ranked the No. 1 race in Australia in 2022. It’s very rare to have this many outstanding, tried and proven horses contending as strong chances in such an important race.
Verry Elleegant is the best thing since Winx and, importantly, her 11 G1s have been recorded across a broad spread of 10 different top-level events, her undoubted and rare greatness shown in their vast range of distances – from 1400m to the 3200m of the Melbourne Cup. Having come second in this race the past two years to outstanding British raider Addeybb, who’s not here this year, can Chris Waller’s six-year-old mare add another layer with a victory in an 11th different G1?
Zaaki has been mostly outstanding since being plucked from relative obscurity in Britain to join the burgeoning Annabel Neasham stable in Sydney last year. He won the G1 Doomben Cup in May by seven lengths, for example. But the seven-year-old gelding has also been a tad patchy, being beaten as a very short-priced favourite on two occasions. Beating this lot would put beyond doubt how real a deal he is.
Anamoe is a young bull who’s been swelling up like a tsunami in the past year, winning major races for his three-year-old age group like the Caulfield Guineas and, last start, the Rosehill Guineas (by nearly seven lengths). He should have got the gong over older horses in last October’s Cox Plate. He was pipped by a nose by European visitor State Of Rest after a lot of interference down the straight, but stewards dismissed his jockey’s protest.
Duais has burst onto the scene this autumn with imperious G1 victories in her past two starts, while I’m Thunderstruck and Montefilia are also top-quality animals with undeniable chances.
FIRST WINNER
Cossack, in 1851.
LAST WINNER
Addeybb, 2021
FAMOUS WINNERS
Archer (winner of the first two Melbourne Cups) in 1862, Carbine (1889-90-91), Wakeful (1902), Poseidon (1908), Phar Lap (1930), Peter Pan (1933), Tulloch (1958, 60, 61), Might And Power (1998), Lonhro (2003), More Joyous (2012), Winx (2017-18-19).
FAVOURITES
Generally a good race for favourites or those short in the betting. In the past 12 years, horses at $5 or shorter have won nine times, with the longest in that span being $13.
MAJOR RACES ON THE UNDERCARD
Race 6, The Australian Oaks, 2.35pm: A time-honoured “Classic” Group 1 race, first held in 1885, for 3YO fillies over the staying distance of 2400m, or a mile and a half, worth $1 million. Oaks winners’ progeny are guaranteed to fetch high prices at the yearling sales.
Major chances: It’s quite an open and large field this year, with three chances vying for favouritism at around $4.50. The Chris Waller-trained Hinged won a 1400m G1 three starts back. She was a narrow second over 1850m G1 last start in a way raising questions over her ability to get 2400m, but don’t doubt Waller is the rule. Queensland raider Gypsy Goddess had won her first five starts before running third behind Hinged in that 1850m race last start. That was her second run from a spell, which horses often find tough, and she has won over 2100m before, so seems likely to get the trip. And James Cummings’ Honeycreeper scored a storming 3.3 length win over 2000m last Saturday in the key lead-up to this. She’s in a very strong stable and her dad, Teofilo, is a noted sire of stayers, including two of the past four Melbourne Cup winners.
Chances as well to Pink Ivory ($6) who has master jockey James McDonald, a noted trainer of staying fillies in John Sargent, and made strong ground late in that 1850m race from well back for fifth place. Biscayne Bay ($16), for the all-conquering Maher-Eustace stable, ran an eye-catching third in the Victorian version of The Oaks last November over 2500m so will clearly get the trip. She’s won in soft going, is untried in heavy, but her breeding suggests it won’t be a problem. Plus she gets blinkers back on for this, which often helps.
TIPS: 1. Honeycreeper; 2. Biscayne Bay; 3. Gypsy Goddess; 4. Pink Ivory.
Race 7, The Sydney Cup, 3.15pm: Sydney’s big staying test, not quite as grand as the Melbourne Cup, but a G1 which is just as long, at 3200m, and which was first held a year after the Melbourne Cup started, in 1862. Prizemoney: $2 million.
Major chances: In another large field, of 19 acceptors, it’s Stockman ($4.50) who’s clear favourite at around $4.80. Prepared by canny Sydney trainer Joe Pride, he hasn’t run beyond 2400m but loves the wet, winning four from seven on heavy and two from 10 on soft. Showed class by being closest to Duais in the 2400m Tancred Stakes last start. Crystal Pegasus ($6.50) is second-favourite at $6.50 for master trainer Waller and is a stayer on the rise, winning his past four starts from 2000m to 2600m, in decent company, and has fair wet form. Knight’s Order ($9.50) is a former British stayer who disgraced himself last spring but suggested a return to his stronger form with a second last Saturday over 2600m in a key lead-up to this, on a heavy track, and has the Gai Waterhouse-Adrian Bott touch.
Chalk Stream ($8.50), trained by Waller and owned by none other than Queen Elizabeth II, the same Queen Elizabeth II that the big race is named after, is another of these tough former British stayers. She ran third last start over 2400m but had to be scratched from an intended lead-up run last Saturday, so there’s a fitness doubt. The Chosen One ($12) might be decent odds. He’s a classy NZ stayer who ran third last start in the Tancred Stakes on a soft track, a big effort considering he usually hates soft tracks. His record on heavy, however, is better, with two runs for a second place – in this race two years ago, when beaten only narrowly. Another that appears well over the odds is Daqiansweet Junior ($23). After all, he’s a tough former Kiwi, with good trainer and jockey in Phil Stokes and Kerrin McEvoy, and he won the Adelaide Cup over this trip last start. He’s probably long odds because of one run in heavy going for a fifth, but that was over an unsuitably short 1600m, first-up from a spell, and in fact he made strong ground late, so appeared to handle the going. He’s certainly fit after six runs down south this campaign – for five wins and a second.
Chances as well, each-way, to Surefire ($14), Luncies ($9.50), Sheraz ($14), and No Compromise ($12).
TIPS: 1. The Chosen One; 2. Daqiansweet Junior; 3. Knight’s Order; 4. Crystal Pegasus.
Race 9, Sydney’s Queen Of The Turf Stakes, 4.35pm: A $1 million weight-for-age G1 for fillies and mares over 1600m, first held in 1974.
Major chances: There’s a fair few of them in this even, 18-horse field, with the market headed by James Cummings’ Colette ($4.00). She’s a star mare who loves the wet, has won a couple of G1s and came home well for second over 1500m last start, suggesting a return to top form. Yonce ($7.50) steps up in grade but is a most exciting mare from the Maher-Eustace stable who’s unbeaten in her six starts in Melbourne. She’s had one run on soft going but none in heavy, however, and from gate 1 may be stuck on the more boggy inside section of the track in the home straight. Promise Of Success ($12) is a British import trained by the masterful John O’Shea who powered home to win her last start, a 1500m G2, and who has strong wet form.
Chances also to Icebath ($5.50). She ran a great third at long odds in the Doncaster over this trip last Saturday, but the worry is this quick back-up off that gut-busting run, and a wide barrier (15). Lighthouse ($14) is a classy ex-American mare but has also been doing a lot of racing lately and has been in work a long time. You could excuse that considering her trainers, Maher and Eustace, seem to thumb their noses successfully at these sorts of worries, but she perhaps could have done more than her eighth in the Doncaster. Also place hopes to Fangirl ($12) and Never Been Kissed ($34).
TIPS: 1. Colette; 2. Promise Of Success; 3. Never Been Kissed; 4. Lighthouse.
THE MAIN EVENT
Race 8, The Queen Elizabeth Stakes, 3.55pm: A WFA G1 worth $4 million over 2000m.
1. THINK IT OVER (Barrier 4) Weight: 59kg. Approx Odds: Win: $34 / Place $6. FOR: Loves Randwick, and this distance, and loves this distance at Randwick, at which he’s won four from eight with one placing. Good barrier and jockey in Nash Rawiller, and trainer Kerry Parker has handled his stable star extremely well. AGAINST: Doesn’t go well in the heavy – four starts for no placings – and it’s likely to be very heavy.
2. ZAAKI (3) 59kg. $4.80 / $1.65. FOR: Is a high-quality, tough, gelding who could yet become a superstar. Fine brains trust in Annabel Neasham and jockey Jamie Kah. Returned to top form at the right time by winning the big All Star Mile very imperiously at Flemington last start. Has won five and placed five in 12 goes at this distance. Should be able to race where he likes it most from his barrier, either in front or close to it. AGAINST: Hasn’t raced in heavy going. He’s had two barrier trials (practice races) in heavy, including a win and a second. That suggests he should probably handle it, but until they do it in race conditions, with the pressure on, there’s always a nagging doubt.
3. I’M THUNDERSTRUCK (6) 59kg. $13 / $2.90. FOR: Has loads of ability, shown last spring in tough and courageous G1 1600m win at Caulfield followed by victory in the rich Golden Eagle (1500m) in his first go clockwise in Sydney. His second go in Sydney was a half-length second in the Doncaster last week, when winner Mr Brightside probably benefited from a better ride. Has top Melbourne jockey in Mark Zahra aboard this week, trainers Price and Kent know what they’re doing, and he’s won one from two on heavy, and comfortably. AGAINST: The biggest doubt is this is his first go beyond 1600m, and he had a hard run only last Saturday in the Doncaster over that 1600m trip. The first step up to 2000m is always difficult, and horses usually take a great fitness benefit from it if they then attempt 2000m a second straight time. It’s a very demanding distance, requiring stamina but usually at a more exacting pace than, say, 2400m, where horses can bowl along a bit more casually. That’s why some of the world’s great races are at this old mile-and-a-quarter trip.
4. MOUNT POPA (8) 59kg. $101 / $15. FOR: Willie Pike knows how to ride in big races, and this is an experienced former European gelding with two wins and two placings from four starts in heavy. AGAINST: Class. He’s had four goes at G1 for no placings, and three poor tries at WFA.
5. DALASAN (1) 59kg. $101 / $15. FOR: One pundit said the other day this Adelaide five-year-old is “a little ripper” for running consistently enough to earn some fat cheques, like his $75,000 for coming fifth in last Saturday’s Doncaster. AGAINST: That’s good for owners, bad for punters. He hasn’t actually won a race since April, 2020 – 20 starts ago. Is also 0 for 3 for placings in heavy. Will earn another decent cheque though, since they pay to 12th and there’s only nine starters.
6. VERRY ELLEEGANT (7) 57kg. $2.90 / $1.35. FOR: Here she is, the best horse currently racing in the country, and this is her grand final, for which master trainer Chris Waller has been preparing her. Has crack jockey James McDonald on board. Loves the wet, where she’s had five starts in heavy for three wins and two placings, and is 16: 9-4 in soft. Loves the distance, loves WFA, and would’ve won this the past two years had she not run into exceptional European Addeybb, who’s not here now. AGAINST: Not much. You could pick at her last start defeat, by a clear two lengths, behind Montefilia. But that came in stepping up from 1600m to 2000m. She’ll take benefit from that, and Waller will have been preparing her with this race in mind as the bigger target. We will possibly have to see her dig deep to win, but she is a champion.
7. DUAIS (9) 57kg. $5.00 / $1.70. FOR: This four-year-old mare had always shown ability, winning the G1 Queensland Oaks and a key Caulfield Cup lead-up last year. But she’s gone next level this autumn, probably like her astute (and well-bred) young trainer Ed Cummings thought she would, given horses by her sire (Shamus Award) usually take a couple of years to develop. She went bang in taking the Australian Cup (2000m) by two lengths two runs back, then drew gasps with a 3.5 length win for her third G1 (from 18 starts), in the 2400m Tancred Stakes. Is a mare in top form and the old rule is always back mares in form. Jockey Josh Parr is in form, too. AGAINST: Two slight worries: She’s dropping back in distance from 2400m two weeks ago, which can sometimes trouble horse and trainer. And she’s had three goes on heavy for no placings. However, in the latest of those, three starts ago, she powered home for sixth to Verry Elleegant in a 1600m G1, so she looked like she handled it. She could be the horse of the autumn.
8. MONTEFILIA (2) 57kg. $9.50 / $2.40. FOR: Another exceptional four-year-old mare, who’s won four G1s (also from 18 starts). She fairly spanked the great Verry Elleegant in that 2000m G1 last start, in heavy going. And while we’ve said Verry Elleegant was probably building towards this race as her grand final, that was only Montefilia’s second race back from a spell, rising from 1600m to 2000m, so she should be even better for that run (a run in which she beat the best horse in the land by two lengths, mind you). She’s a very talented mare who can’t be dismissed lightly. AGAINST: Is she really seasoned enough to go toe-to-toe in a fierce scrap with the more battle-hardened types like Verry Elleegant and Zaaki? Plus, there’ll be more pressure on in this nine horse field, which also has more class than that last start, when there were only six starters and an eight-length gap to the (pretty average) third placegetter.
9. ANAMOE (5) 55.5kg. $4.80 / $1.65. FOR: Outstanding colt who gets in with a light weight as a 3YO under the WFA scale. Goes well in heavy, including his breathtaking 6.5 length win in the G1 Rosehill Guineas for 3YOs last start. Again, stepped up from 1600m to that 2000m and will draw benefit from that for this. Should gain his optimum position from the barrier, and with his light weight at the end of a possibly gruelling 2000m in the mud, he should give his older rivals a massive shake. AGAINST: Not a huge amount, but just that slight question again on how seasoned he is against some more battle-hardened warriors, when the lungs are bursting and they’re eyeballing each other in the straight. He stepped up to that challenge against older horses fine in the Cox Plate last October, but then, as a spring 3YO compared to autumn under the WFA scale, he only had to carry 49.5kg. The question is, do you back him to step up to this higher challenge, against those who’ve proven they can do it? He’s only got 1.5kg less than Verry Elleegant, after all.
TIPS: 1. Verry Elleegant; 2. Anamoe; 3. Duais; 4. Zaaki.