DARLEY CLASSIC – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

HISTORY:

* Million-dollar, 1200m weight-for-age sprint

* First run in 1960, Group One since 1979

* Held on Victoria Derby day until 2007, switched to final day of Melbourne Cup carnival

* Black Caviar won by four lengths in 2010, her first Group One. It was Ben Melham’s first and only ride on the champion mare

* Notable winners: Vain (1969), Century (1973), Special (1988), Takeover Target (2004), Miss Andretti (2007), Black Caviar (2010,11)

TALKING POINTS:

* Buffering going for back-to-back Darley Classics, trying to be first since Black Caviar (2010 and 2011) to claim AJ Moir Stakes-Darley double

* Irish import Slade Power in fine form chasing fourth-straight win and third Group One in a row

* Lankan Rupee going for Manikato Stakes-Darley double. Buffering won both races in 2013

* Black Caviar’s trainer Peter Moody, trying for fourth win, has Moment Of Change this year

PATTERN: Headline sprinters Lankan Rupee and Buffering drawn opposite sides of track but will provide the speed. They are both Group One winners over the course. Chautauqua has come from behind in two impressive spring wins. Slade Power likes to sit off the pace

FANCIED RUNNERS: Chautauqua steps into Group One racing for the first time but is a short-priced favourite to deliver in one of the spring’s biggest showdowns. Lankan Rupee did it at both ends in the Manikato. Buffering is lion-hearted

BEST OF THE OUTSIDERS: Value isn’t too difficult to find with established Group One sprinters Buffering, Rebel Dane, Famous Seamus and Driefontein all at double-figure odds

EARLY BETTING: Unbeaten in two starts since resuming, Chautauqua has dominated markets since winning the Gilgai Stakes at Flemington last month. If the market is a true guide, Lankan Rupee and Slade Power are the only horses capable of stopping Chautauqua’s winning run.