The first of eight black-type features on the Blue Diamond Stakes Day programme at Caulfield this Saturday, February 26 is the $100,000 Listed Victoria Gold Cup (2000m) known this year as the Clamms Seafood Cup.
The 2011 Victoria Gold Cup is scheduled to run as Caulfield Race 2 on Saturday, jumping at 1:10pm (AEDST).
A small but quality field of eight horses have been accepted for the Clamms Seafood Cup field this year.
Lee Freedman is the only trainer with multiple entries, represented by Above Average and Ajhar.
High Chaparral five-year-old Above Average is first-up for the season following a solid spring campaign.
After running a close second to Precedence in the Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m) in October, Above Average also enjoyed a second place finish in the Sandown Cup (3200m) last start on November 13.
On Saturday Above Average will jump from barrier seven with Ben Melham in the mount and has a good 55.5kg weight for the Victoria Gold Cup.
Stablemate Ajhar is drawn on the inside with barrier one and Craig Williams in the mount, but will be one of the roughies in the odds.
Scenic Shot is the top weight in the Victoria Gold Cup field
The eight-year-old Ascot galloper last ran seventh in the Group 3 Carlyon Cup (1600m) at Caulfield on February 12, but is still a good Place Bet here against a diminutive field.
Other 2011 Clamms Seafood / Victoria Gold Cup Acceptors include:
- Vesper (Robert Hickmott) – Zabeel four-year-old making their Group race debut, coming off a close third to King Diamond over 2000m at Flemington beaten less than a length
- Apprehend (Tony Vasil) – Jumping from barrier four, Hold That Tiger gelding must show improvement from recent runs to feature
- Port Vell (Colin Little) – Locally trained Pins gelding showed good improvement last start finishing second to Red Buttons in an 1800m handicap at Sandown
Stay tuned to Races.com.au throughout the rest of the week as we will be publishing the top Caulfield race tips for all the Saturday showdowns.
To get access to the premium betting odds and options for the Blue Diamond Stakes Day races make sure you have an account open with Luxbet!
2011 Clamms Seafood Cup / Victoria Gold Plate Final Field & Barrier Draw
| # | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight (kg) | Hcp. Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SCENIC SHOT | Daniel Morton | Shane Scriven | 3 | 60 | 112 |
| 2 | ABOVE AVERAGE (IRE) | Lee Freedman | Ben Melham | 7 | 55.5 | 101 |
| 3 | APPREHEND | Tony Vasil | Jason Maskiell (a) | 4 | 53 | 91 |
| 4 | AJHAR (USA) | Lee Freedman | Craig Newitt | 1 | 53 | 89 |
| 5 | DOWN UNDER BOY | John Symons & Sheila Laxon | Craig Williams | 2 | 53 | 86 |
| 6 | THE WOLVERINE (NZ) | Leon Corstens | Luke Nolen | 8 | 53 | 84 |
| 7 | PORT VELL (NZ) | Colin Little | Glen Boss | 5 | 53 | 82 |
| 8 | VESPER | Robert Hickmott | Nicholas Hall | 6 | 53 | 78 |
Photo courtesy (c) Taron Clarke Photography
