The Scone Carnival kicks off on Friday with the traditional Scone Cup headlining the action on Day 1.
Worth $200,000, this year’s mile classic holds Big Dance Eligibility for the winner, and it’s no surprise to see a handful of proven gallopers accept with Nugget headlining the betting.
Nine races are on offer and we’ve run the rule over the entire meeting below.
Hard to feel confident in this maiden race to kick things off, but Naval Destroyer does have a few claims if you can overlook the fact he’s drawn the carpark.
Cameron Crockett’s gelding is fitter now for two runs back, cashing another cheque at Tamworth last week on Cup Day where he was beaten half a length over 1400m carrying big weight.
The son of Merchant Navy has been unlucky not to win his maiden thus far, missing the money only three times from eight starts.
Needs luck in running from barrier 16 but does have enough early speed to get across early and lead.
Kerguelen on top narrowly over the stablemate Tulle for mine.
This son of Lonhro is on debut for Godolphin coming off a handy trial win at Warwick Farm last week where he looked have plenty on the rest of the field winning by close to two lengths.
Tim Clark saddles the three-year-old from a perfect gate and they just need to settle close enough to the speed to threaten.
Wembanyama is a progressive three-year-old that looks to have a slight class edge over a few of his rivals in this Class 1 affair.
The Dundeel gelding resumed in terrific order in February, winning his maiden by just under a length operating from a similar wide gate under Tommy Berry.
Recent efforts have seen him go close up in grade, narrowly beaten three weeks ago on the Kensington track where he had to overcome some early interference to settle midfield.
Fitter fourth-up and capable of handling the top weight, he should be suited over the mile now with the blinkers applied.
First Person could find conditions to suit with a slightly Soft track expected.
We saw this filly by All Too Hard win her maiden on a Soft 5 at Newcastle early last month under Tommy Berry, returning four week’s later off a break where she faced a bottomless Heavy track at Wyong against her own sex.
Draws to do no work from barrier 3 and Berry getting back in the saddle is an enormous plus.
Happy to have something on each-way despite the rise in class.
Debut Warrnambool winner Le Pleine Lune picks himself here in this large field.
He’s on the short side at time of writing, but the Hayes-trained colt by Group 1 place-getter Puissance de Lune looks capable of running them off their feet if he gets a cheap lead.
Nash Rawiller made every post a winner two weeks ago over further, form that has already been franked with the runner-up winning with real authority last week at Donald.
Happy to be in the corner of Code In Time now that he’s in a big lighter at the weights.
Annabel Neasham’s galloper rattled off two wins in a row before having his chances at a hat-trick denied at Kembla Grange three weeks ago carrying 60kg.
Returning the money in four of his five starts so far, he should find the step back to 1300m to his liking with front-running tactics on the cards again.
How Dare You has been a difficult filly to get a read on over the last 12 months, but if she produces her best first-up she’ll likely take beating.
The Godolphin three-year-old out of Zoustar was twice placed at the midweek’s last last year, going within 1.5 lengths of One Destiny coming off a four-wide ride in transit.
She’s been kept fresh for the run with a good gap between and has shown plenty in two recent trials to suggest she’ll be hard to hold out.
Waterford can turn in an average effort here and there but it looks like he may have turn a corner after winning well fresh at Rosehill.
Chris Waller’s import laid in over the final stages and looked like he might be swamped in his final few strides, before responding to win by close to a length.
It was a brave performance after being caught wide from the inside draw and he should have improvement left to come based on his second-up form.
With luck from the gate and Tommy Berry experienced in the irons, this looks a nice race for him to finally add a black-type win to his resume.
Third-up and sticking to 1400m are two ticks in the right box for the Ron Stubbs-trained Baledon.
The Foxwedge six-year-old showed real improvement off a gap between runs to win over this trip at Canberra last-start by a clear margin, suggesting he’ll handle this distance again with four runs under his belt now.
The early speed looks genuine on paper, so from a soft gate he should land midfield and pile on the pressure once the whips start to crack over the closing stages.