Sydney Cup-bound Prince Cheri is favourite for Saturday's 2014 Sky High Stakes. Photo: Steve Hart.
A bumper nine-race program is set to light up Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, and in one of the Group races on the cards it is David Vandyke’s Sydney Cup hopeful Prince Cheri heading the 2014 Sky High Stakes odds.
A talented line-up of 10 stayers have been accepted for this year’s $150,000 Group 3 McGrath Estate Agents Sky High Stakes (1900m), which is set to run as Rosehill Race 5 at 2:45pm (AEST) tomorrow afternoon.
Of the 10 in the field it is Lando five-year-old Prince Cheri sitting top of the early Sky High Stakes betting markets, the stallion second-up for the season.
The lightly-raced French import has had just eight starts to date, six of those on Aussie soil.
Their best performances include a win over Honorius in the Group 3 Kingston Town Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill last September and their good sixth when defeated just one and a half lengths by Seville in the Group 1 The Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick.
A genuine stayer, Prince Cheri resumed on March 8 at Warwick Farm when sixth behind the Chris Waller-trained Boban in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m).
They get back to a more preferred track this weekend and will relish that as well as the step up in distance.
As such they sit top of the Sky High markets at a current quote of $4 as they trial for a shot at the $1 million Group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m) at Randwick on April 19.
They’re already well liked in the futures Sydney Cup odds too paying $18 in markets led by four equal $8 favourites: Junoob, Sertorius, Silent Achiever and Voleuse De Coeurs.
There are then three other gallopers at single figures to win the Sky High Stakes on Saturday with:
- #10 Entirely Platinum ($4.80) – Up-and-coming Hawkes-trained Pentire gelding having their first black type run here on the back of two straight Warwick Farm wins over 1400m and 1600m respectively this time in
- #6 Let’s Make Adeal ($7) – Nigel Blackiston starts this Group 1 performing Red Ransom mare who has good Melbourne form in the staying races from the spring including a Lexus Stakes second and Queen Elizabeth Stakes third, two unplaced runs this prep most recently in Group 1 company when seventh to Fiorente in the Australian Cup, first Sydney run but has class
- #3 Lightinthenite ($9) – John O’Shea-trained Galileo six-year-old third-up here, last effort was a poor sixth in the Parramatta Cup from the start of the month but were found to be mildly lame post-race, improvement to come and capable of better as proven last winter in Brisbane with their Doomben Cup sixth and Brisbane Cup fourth
After more value? There are plenty of other sneaky chances here at longer odds including Sam Kavanagh’s recent Gosford Cup winner Midsummer Sun ($10), Blackiston’s other starter Desert Jeuney ($12) coming via a Blamey Stakes fifth and the Chris Waller-trained Australia Day Cup third placed Brigantin ($13) who also ran second in the Gosford Cup in January.
The full McGrath Agents Sky High Stakes 2014 field, barriers, jockeys and latest fixed win prices can all be found in the table below.
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