It’s Spring Champion Stakes day at Randwick, and it looks like the favourites are going to be awfully hard to beat in the feature races. Racing NSW has tried to create an elevated card on this day with big prizemoney, but there is no doubt it has fallen flat and not had the impact they were after.
Spring Champion Stakes day: feature race tips and preview
CAMERON ROSE
EDITOR
SPRING CHAMPION STAKES - 2000m, Randwick R7
Tom Kitten is the shortie in the Spring Champion, despite coming off three runs in a row where he has been a beaten favourite. He’s been so hard to ignore though, because even when not winning he’s been the best run in each race he’s contested this campaign.
In the Gloaming Stakes last start, Nash Rawiller made no attempt to hold a midfield position despite Tom Kitten jumping well, and allowed himself to get washed back in traffic at the 600m. By the time he was able to get the horse clear, he savaged the line, but the pathetic lack of intent in the ride cost him the race.
Adam Hyeronimus is on-board this time around, and will have to negotiate the race from barrier 1, which may prove tricky. Still, if every horse gets even luck and the best one wins, then it will be Tom Kitten.
If we say that Tom Kitten has the Gloaming Stakes field covered with all things being equal, then we might look to the only filly in the field, Tutta La Vita, to provide the stiffest challenge. She’s been hitting the line well all prep, with her best run being her last when third in the Flight Stakes, and she looks a serious threat up to 2000m now. Given her place odds are the same as Tom Kitten is to win, she might be the each-way play.
Both Tom Kitten and Tutta La Vita will be getting back in the field, so if the tempo is only moderate and the front-runners are suited, or on-pace on the rail is the place to be, then Gloaming Stakes winner Raf Attack is the logical one to beat. It was a good win there, fending off his fellow on-pacers and staving off the backmarkers.
Ganbare is honest, and couldn’t quite finish strongly last start after enduring a wide trip early from the widest barrier in the Gloaming. Jumping from gate four now, he’ll have a much easier time of it, and could find himself in the finish.
Selections: 1.Tutta La Vita 2.Tom Kitten 3.Raf Attack 4.Ganbare
Cameron rose's Tip
TUTTA LA VITA
EACH-WAY
Moet & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes 28 October 16:00
Win
Place
* Odds Correct At Time Of Posting. Check Playup Website For Latest Odds
THE INVITATION - 1400m, Randwick R8
The Invitation hasn’t lived up to expectation as a freshly-invented marquee race, certainly in relation to how well The Everest and Golden Eagle have hit. Still, it’s a decent enough field that has been assembled this time out, with some proven quality mares and a couple of bright up-and-comers.
Espiona and Alcohol Free come out of The Everest, a race in which neither of them were suited and they were never going to win.
Espiona tried her best and ran as well as she could, but was no match for the half a dozen pure sprinters that finished ahead of her. She’s not a 1200m horse, and if you remove those runs from her 2023 performances, she’s unbeaten from three starts in the 1400m-1500m range. She’s the one to beat.
Alcohol Free dropped out in the Everest to run last after racing on the speed, but she was the last horse entered into the race and was never going to be a threat. Back to mares grade and up to 1400m should see an improvement.
Magic Time and Parisal are the new four-year-old’s that have come back as good horses after promising three-year-old season’s. They have met twice, with Magic Time proving superior both times, but she has drawn wide here while Parisal will go forward from an inside draw and have every possible chance.
Olentia had a boom on her after beating Magic Time on a wet track earlier this year, and confirmed it with a huge first-up win this prep. However, she hasn’t fired a shot since, and the jury is out on her for now. There is more than a hint of Espiona about her at this stage of her career.
Royal Merchant and Ruthless Dame both won Group 1s in Adelaide as three-year-old fillies earlier this year, but haven’t set the world on fire in limited appearances this season. It could be that they haven’t progressed during their respective spells, and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where they fit in.
Opal Ridge is another mare with a big reputation that hasn’t quite been living up to it. She was run off her feet by Front Page in the Kosciuszko first-up, but still ran respectably while beaten at $2.80. She has the talent to win based off her three-year-old form, but like others has to stand up now.
Selections: 1.Espiona 2.Magic Time 3.Opal Ridge 4.Alcohol Free
Cameron rose's Tip
ESPIONA
WIN
The Invitation 28 October 16:45
Win
Place
* Odds Correct At Time Of Posting. Check Playup Website For Latest Odds
CALLENDER-PRESNELL - 1600m, Randwick R9
The three-year-old’s are racing for $1M over the Randwick 1600m, and it has to be admitted that this is a very ordinary field. Most of this line-up have been running down the track in races that are okay but not outstanding, or are coming off wins at maiden level.
Arctic Glamour ran well in decent maidens back in June, and has gone two-from-two this campaign with a maiden win by four lengths and following up by taking out the Reginald Allen at Listed level by a comfortable margin. No horse in the field is more lightly-raced than her, and she continues to show upside at a level most others here don’t.
Snowman was slightly disappointing in the Gloaming last start, given the form he had shown around the highly-rated Riff Rocket. Still, he was beaten less than two lengths in a stronger field than what he meets here, and the step back in distance to 1600m may well be in favour of the son of Snitzel.
Heman was good in the Tapp-Craig last start, and could be ready to win now if he can handle to rise to a mile. His first-up run in the Poseidon down the Flemington straight can be forgiven, because it was a strange race and nothing made any ground at all where he was in the run.
Namesake was decent first-up, but the form out of that race has been suspect at this level, and he wasn’t up to it behind King’s Gambit in the Roman Consul. He might improve in a weaker race.
Selections: 1.Arctic Glamour 2.Snowman 3.Heman 4.Namesake
Cameron rose's Tip
ARCTIC GLAMOUR
WIN
Cincotta Chemist Callander-Presnell 28 October 17:30
Win
Place
* Odds Correct At Time Of Posting. Check Playup Website For Latest Odds
CRAVEN PLATE - 1800m, Randwick R6
While all eyes are on the Cox Plate down south, the middle-distance weight-for-age C-graders tackle the Craven Plate over 1800m.
A number of these horses, ran in the Hill Stakes earlier this month, which provides a key form reference.
No Compromise was the best closer in that race. He has an underrated turn-of-foot, but doesn’t win out of turn, and when he does it is usually over further. Four of his five wins in Australia, dating back to May 2021, have been at 2400m, and he may find it tough to get past them all from an inside draw.
Numerian was given no hope first-up in the Hill Stakes, with Ryan Maloney electing to go back from a wide draw instead of forward in the horse’s usual racing pattern. Numerian’s form over the last 12 months would have him as the horse to beat here if ridden appropriately, which he surely will be from barrier one.
Zeyrek beat both Numerian and No Compromise home in the Hill Stakes, finishing fourth behind Montefilia, but he was since outclassed in the King George Stakes. There was no shame there in being beaten six lengths by Fangirl and Mr Brightside, who some are tipping to win the Cox Plate. Zeyrek’s previous form behind Think It Over and Pericles says he is racing well and just needing the right race. This could be it.
Huetor is the class runner of the field, with two Doomben Cup’s to his name. He settled back in the King Charles and never threatened, but it was a satisfactory return run. He usually takes a few to find peak form, and while this is a suitable race based on class, will he be ready to win? That’s the query.
Hinged, Fireburn and Renaissance Woman are three mares that are also in the reckoning.
Hinged always runs well, but might have forgotten how to win, or otherwise needs a wet track to produce her best. Admittedly this is weaker than what she usually contests. Fireburn hasn’t shown anything as a four-year-old. Renaissance Woman won the Angst, but it wasn’t the strongest edition of all time. She was a winner over 1800m in the Brisbane carnival, and looks the one from this trio.
Selections: 1.Numerian 2.Zeyrek 3.Renaissance Woman 4.Huetor
Cameron rose's Tip
NUMERIAN
EACH-WAY
Toyota Forklifts Craven Plate 28 October 15:25
Win
Place
* Odds Correct At Time Of Posting. Check Playup Website For Latest Odds
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