Group 1 racing returns to the west on Saturday and I could not be more around this edition of the Railway Stakes.
Typically, Perth’s best horses have been confirmed in a field alongside some quality east coast raiders and all week, we’ve been faced with around $7 the field.
My 2019 Railway Stakes tips can be found below.
Suggested Bets
- 2 Units E/W #12 Regal Power
- Boxed Trifecta of the selections below
William Pike has ridden nine of the sixteen horses in the Railway Stakes field and has elected to partner Regal Power on Saturday, which is a good enough indication for me to throw him into my first four. The Grant & Allana Williams-trained gelding has recorded four wins and six minors through only fourteen career starts and ended his last prep with consecutive wins in black type company, including the Group 2 WATC Derby. There was a lot to like about his resuming run for second in the Group 3 Asian Beau three weeks ago and has plenty of upside. He looks capable of doing the Railway Stakes/Kingston Town Classic double.
Best Of Days probably hasn’t shown his absolute best form this time, but he is a horse of huge ability when he puts it all together and the Railway Stakes looks a lovely Group 1 feature for him. The six-year-old son of Azamour ran third in the Group 2 Feehan in early spring and has finished third in the Crystal Mile and three-lengths fifth behind Fierce Impact in the Group 1 Cantala at his two most-recent appearances; the latter a race that he won in 2018. He’s rock-hard fit and has a class edge over most of these rivals.
Gatting returned several outstanding efforts during his east coast spring preparation and looks a live chance in Railway Stakes betting. He’s been the stable star for Darren Mcauliffe for several seasons now, but he really came into his own in Melbourne and pulled off one of the upsets of the season when a dominant winner of the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes at a triple-figure quote. He’s carrying topweight, but a repeat of that effort would see him right in the finish of this race.
The Velvet King has returned to racing in smart form this time and does look ready to peak fourth-up in the Railway Stakes 2019. The Universal Ruler gelding simply doesn’t know how to run a bad race and won the Group 3 Northerly Cup in October, before running third behind Star Exhibit and Gatting in the Lee Steere last time out. 53kgs is and extremely manageable weight for him and he looks a horse with plenty of upside. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him right in the finish again.