The Golden Rose is one of the most highly-anticipated races of the Spring Carnival and an outstanding field of three-year-olds will step out at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday afternoon.
Golden Rose Day boasts a total of nine races, five of which will be contested under black type conditions and the action will officially begin with the running of a Benchmark 70 race for three-year-olds at 12:10pm local time.
The rail will be set out three metres around the entire course and a fine week in Sydney is likely to materialise in a ‘Good’ track for Golden Rose Day.
A pretty open field of three-year-olds will assemble for the first one Golden Rose Day and at the time of publish, Gem Song remains the $4.50 favourite. Undefeated through two starts as a two-year-old, Gem Song returned to the races this time for a credible third in a 1300m at Randwick on September 5th. He’ll strip fitter for the run and can be fighting out the finish again, having drawn ideal. A horse that I like the look of at a longer quote is Godolphin filly Cristobal ($11), who will also take plenty of improvement into what is her second-up appearance this season. Cristobal showed above-average ability through her debut preparation and returned for a completely luckless run in the Group 2 Furious Stakes (1200m) three weeks ago. She finished second behind Sunlight in her only other second-up run and she looks over the odds at her current price.
This week’s Highway Handicap will suit milers and there is a case to be made for more than half of this country field. Risk And Reward ($4.20) will be rock-hard fit for his fourth-up run, but will need some luck after drawing the potentially-sticky barrier 9. Think Like A Fox ($9) has enjoyed a flying start to her racing career and is capable of registering her biggest win to date in this race. The daughter of Foxwedge is yet to miss a place through her three starts to dare and was last seen closing well to finish second over 1300m at Goulburn. The increase in trip should be ideal at this point of her preparation and the wide barrier shouldn’t be too much of a concern as she appears versatile in transit.
Only six three-year-olds will step out in this year’s Gloaming Stakes and it’s tough imagining anything beating Tarka, on his recent form. Tarka ($3.10) strung together a couple of nice wins over a mile at Warwick Farm through July and August, before making a successful transition to black type company when winning the Group 2 Stan Fox Stakes (1500m) two weeks ago, beating the likes of The Autumn Sun and Danawi to the line. He looks like he’ll only improve at 1800m and he has plenty of options from the rails draw.
A small but smart field of stayers will contest the JRA Trophy and at Harper’s Choice ($5.50) has opened race favourite. A Group 1 placegetter, Harper’s Choice posted a couple of nice win in succession earlier in his prep, but has appeared flat in the Wyong and Newcastle Cups most recently and would need to improve noticeably to return to winning form in this. I am happy to take on the favourite and I think that the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Dark Eyes ($13) can bounce back, at a nice price. The Snitzel gelding has been up and racing for quite a while, but he ran fairly for fourth in the Group 3 Premier’s Cup (1900m) here three starts back, before running second in the Listed Wyong Cup (2100m). While failing to fire in the Newcastle Cup last time, he’s drawn and weighted well today and is worth consideration at his current odds.
The Shannon Stakes has also drawn a small field, but the depth of talent confirmed suggests that it could be one of the better contests on 2018 Golden Rose Day. Group 1 winner Youngstar ($3.30) will take plenty of improvement into her second-up task here and will be extremely tough to beat under the Shannon Stakes conditions. The High Chaparral mare resumed for a credible sixth in the Group 2 Tramway Stakes (1400m) three weeks ago and will jump from the rails draw on Saturday, with only 53.5kgs in tow. With clear running in the straight, it’s tough imagining which of her rivals could hold her out. Arbeitsam ($4.60) has been racing well and looks ready to peak third-up. The Snitzel gelding returned a number of impressive performances and results in autumn and resumed this time for fourth in the Tramway Stakes, before a luckless run in the Group 3 Cameron Handicap (1500m) last week.
The Golden Pendant always draws an outstanding field of fillies and mares, and Saturday’s edition is certainly no exception to that rule. Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott will launch a smart two-pronged attack in this race, in the form of the resuming Prompt Response ($4.80) and second-up Shumookh ($8.50). Prompt Response resumed in autumn for a smart win in the Group 2 Breeders’ Classic (1200m) and continued to improve throughout a busy preparation that ended with a maiden win at the highest level in the Group 1 Tattersall’s Tiara (1350m). She’s trialled extremely well in the lead-up to this race and can fight out the finish on class alone. Shumookh enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence in autumn and finished third in the Group 1 Surround Stakes (1400m) most notably. She worked home well to finish second in the Listed Mona Lisa Stakes (1350m) first-up this time and will strip fitter for the performance. I like that she has been trialled in the lead-up to this race and she does look over the odds at her current price.
This is set to be an outstanding edition of the Golden Rose and it’s difficult to split a number of horses towards the top of betting. Lean Mean Machine ($5.50) savaged the line to win the Run To The Rose a fortnight ago and will only improve here, while stable mates The Autumn Sun ($4.50) and Zousain ($8.50) both also hold live claims on winning this race. Graff ($3.50) has remained firm in betting and on everything he has done so far, he is the colt to beat. A smart winner of his first two starts upon debuting earlier this year, Graff resumed this time for a dominant win in the Group 3 San Domenico Stakes (1100m) before working home well, after running into traffic for second in the Run To The Rose.
This isn’t a black type race, but the field is dripping with talent and several horses are more than capable of finding their way into the winner’s stall on class alone. Talented import Fierce Impact showed outstanding ability through his maiden Australian campaign and I am happy to take him at the $6 he is showing at the time of publish. The Deep Impact entire ran third over 1300m at Warwick Farm first-up in May, before savaging the line for an impressive win at 1400m most recently. He’s continued to improve through his trials and will look to finish over the top of his rivals with only 54kgs in tow.
Chris Waller will saddle most of the horses in the field for the last and there is a case to be made for several, but The Lord Mayor ($4.80) does appear to be his best chance. The former Kiwi galloper failed to fire in his debut Australian preparation in autumn but took plenty of benefit into his impressive performance and win over 2000m at Randwick three weeks ago. James McDonald is obviously a big plus and I am confident we can end the day on a winning note.