| Race 5 – 3:42PM RED LEA CHICKENS LIGHT FINGERS STAKES (1200 METRES) |
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| Of $175,000.1st $105,000, 2nd $35,000, 3rd $17,500, 4th $8,750, 5th $3,500, 6th $1,750, 7th $1,750, 8th $1,750, Starter Subsidy $200 GROUP 2 Set Weights, Three-Years-Old, Fillies, Apprentices cannot claim.Field Limit: 14 + 4 EM |
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| No | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GUELPH | Peter Snowden | 9 | 56kg | ||||
| 2 | SWEET IDEA | Gai Waterhouse | Tommy Berry | 10 | 56kg | |||
| 3 | REAL SURREAL | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Corey Brown | 1 | 56kg | |||
| 4 | THUMP | Kris Lees | Jim Cassidy | 3 | 56kg | |||
| 5 | ARABIAN GOLD | David Vandyke | Josh Adams | 11 | 56kg | |||
| 6 | GYPSY DIAMOND | John O’Shea | Nash Rawiller | 8 | 56kg | |||
| 7 | ESTONIAN PRINCESS | Scott Aspery | Christian Reith | 4 | 56kg | |||
| 8 | EVERAGE | Craig Carmody | Nathan Berry | 6 | 56kg | |||
| 9 | ZANBAGH | Guy Walter | Blake Shinn | 5 | 56kg | |||
| 10 | CHAMPAGNE CATH | Chris Waller | Jay Ford | 7 | 56kg | |||
| 11 | ANOTHER PRAYER | John P Thompson | Jason Collett | 2 | 56kg |
In the news:
Guy Walter is not expecting Zanbagh to trouble Guelph or the other speedsters in the Light Fingers Stakes but he is expecting the filly to show why she is favourite for the Australian Oaks.
Guelph boasts four Group One wins on her resume and carries a rating of 110 into Saturday’s Group Two race, eight points clear of Golden Slipper placegetter Sweet Idea, with the other 11 fillies 92 and below.
The Light Fingers is over 1200m, half the distance of the Oaks on April 19, a race won in 2004 by Zanbagh’s mother Wild Iris.
Zanbagh, who races for the Tait family as did Wild Iris, came within a long head of winning the Victorian Oaks (2500m) at the end of an unorthodox spring preparation.
After the filly ran third over 1400m at Canberra, Walter took her to Ballarat where she won a 1600m maiden.
He stepped her up to 2000m at the country track where she proved her staying ability and earned an Oaks start with a dominant win.
She was beaten at Flemington by the John Sargent-trained Kirramosa who has been ruled out of the autumn with injury.
“Zanbagh came a long way in a short time during the spring,” Walter said.
“She had a good break and has strengthened up. I think she is an ideal Oaks filly and she will follow a traditional path to get there.”
Zanbagh will be stepped up in distance after the Light Fingers to the Surround Stakes (1400m) on March 8, the Keith Nolan (1600m) on March 23 then the Adrian Knox Stakes (2000m) the Saturday before the Oaks.
Darley filly Guelph, winner of the Sires’ Produce and Champagne Stakes last autumn, came back in the spring to take out the Flight Stakes-Thousand Guineas double.
She is entered for the Oaks but also holds entries for the Queen Of The Turf, the Doncaster Mile and Queen Elizabeth Stakes against older horses.
