I absolutely love the Tancred Stakes and I’m thrilled that when BMW pulled their sponsorship, the ATC didn’t allow it to be renamed ‘The KIA’.
It’s always a ripper race and one where you can typically trust the horses towards the top line – each of the last seven winners have well and truly been in the market.
I’ve got it narrowed down to two this year and I’m confident that the trend will continue. 2019 Tancred Stakes tips are available below.
I was convinced he’d win the Melbourne Cup a couple of years ago and while that clearly didn’t eventuate, nor did it the follow year, Red Cardinal has returned to the track in outstanding form this time and will relish the conditions of the Tancred Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday. The seven-year-old son of Montjeu recorded an easy win at a tasty $26 first-up at Listed level, before making light work of a talented field again in the Group 3 Sky High Stakes (2000m) last time out. Kerrin McEvoy has elected to ride this bloke instead of Avilius and that’s good enough for me.
Avilius has only run two bad races since arriving in Australia and fresh off a Group 1 win, could very well make it two in a tow on Saturday. Seven wins from ten starts for James Cummings is how the ledger reads leading into the Tancred and he atoned for his flat effort in the Australian Cup two starts back when he jogged in to win the Ranvet last week. He clearly handles the heavy going and will be ridden by James McDonald.
Yogi is a strong and consistent stayer and will love getting out to a mile and a half on Saturday. The former Weir galloper ended his spring preparation with an impressive win over two miles in the Sandown Cup, and resumed this time for another smart triumph over 1800m at Caulfield. He hit the line extremely well to finish midfield in the Australian Cup last time out and will take plenty of improvement into this. He’s over the odds at double figures ($16 at publish).
Big Duke is another horse that rarely runs a bad race and he’s ready to peak fourth-up in the Tancred. It’s hard to believe that the seven-year-old hasn’t won a Group 1 race, but this really could be his moment. He’s finished second twice in three starts this time in and savaged the line for second on the heavy going of the Group 3 NE Manion Cup at this track and distance last weekend.