The feature Group 1 race in Melbourne this weekend is the Australian Guineas 2017, a full Flemington form guide and betting preview on the mile classic found below.

Divine Prophet is out to become just the second horse to complete the Caulfield Guineas – Australian Guineas double with success in the latter on Saturday. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

Running as Flemington Race 7 at 4:30pm (AEDT) a talented line-up of 16 starters will take to the track for this season’s $750,000 Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m).

The latest Australian Guineas betting markets at Ladbrokes.com.au are firmly led by the CS Hayes Stakes winner Hey Doc ($3.30) after a double last achieved by Wandjina (2015).

Tony McEvoy’s Duporth gelding was impressive winning the Group 3 lead-up at the track a fortnight back by one and a half-lengths, but is out to break a recent hoodoo by Australian Guineas favourites with the last to salute being Light Fantastic back in 2008.

His main dangers looking at the Australian Guineas odds shape-up as the spring’s Caulfield Guineas winner in similar company at the distance Divine Prophet ($9) and the reigning Victoria Derby champion over more distance Prized Icon ($12) second-up at the nice price.

That’s the story told by the bookies but below we take a look over the full Australian Guineas form guide, betting history, statistics and facts to uncover who to back and sack in the race on Saturday.

2017 Australian Guineas Form Facts & Betting Stats

• Last year’s Australian Guineas winner was the Darren Weir-trained Palentino (2016) who came off a CS Hayes Stakes second, jumped from barrier 15 (of 15) and had Mark Zahra aboard for the $10 win
• Weir is without a runner this Saturday but the previous Australian Guineas winning trainers in the mix are: David Hayes (23-3-2-4) with #3 Seaburge, #12 Snitzon, #14 Harlow Gold and #16 Fuhryk; and Robert Smerdon (4-1-0-0) with #7 Oak Door and #17e Theanswermyfriend
• Last year’s winning hoop Mark Zahra (5-1-0-1) chases back-to-back victories aboard #3 Seaburge ($11)
• Craig Newitt (Light Fantastic in 2008 and Heart Of Dreams 2009) was the last jockey to ride successive Australian Guineas winners

• The other previous Australian Guineas winning jockeys with a ride on the weekend are: Craig Williams (10-2-1-0) on #5 Morton’s Fork, Damien Oliver (19-2-3-2) on #8 So Si Bon, Noel Callow (5-2-0-0) on #9 Anaheim, and Brett Prebble (6-1-0-1) on #6 Attention
• The CS Hayes Stakes has produced the past two Australian Guineas winners with Wandjina (1^st in 2015) and Palentino (2^nd in 2016)
• The CS Hayes Stakes graduates in the line-up this year are: Hey Doc (1^st), Land Of Plenty (3^rd), Morton’s Fork (4^th), Inside Agent (5^th) and Throssell (11^th)
• #4 Hey Doc is out to become the sixth horse to claim the CS Hayes Stakes – Australian Guineas double and the second to do so in three years
• The past five Australian Guineas winners came off a top three run; this year that form holds for: #4 Hey Doc, #7 Oak Door, #9 Anaheim, #13 Land Of Plenty, #14 Harlow Gold, #16 Fuhryk and #17e Theanswermyfriend
• Along with Hey Doc the other last start winners in the mix out of that lot are: #7 Oak Door (Group 2 Autumn Stakes, 1400, Caulfield, 11/02/2017), #16 Fuhryk (Group 3 Kevin Hayes Stakes, 1200m, Caulfield, 11/02/2017) and #17e Theanswermyfriend (Benchmark 64, 1400m, Sandown-Lakeside, 15/02/2017)
• Last year’s winning barrier (15) has produced just the one winner of the race since 1983 and is drawn this year by #13 Land Of Plenty; #7 Oak Door (18) will come into the barrier if the three emergencies fail to gain a run
• The most successful Australian Guineas barriers in that time producing six wins are 2 and 7 drawn this autumn by #4 Hey Doc (2) and #14 Harlow Gold (7); #1 Prized Icon (3) and #10 Throssell (8) will come into the gates if the emergencies come out
• Barrier nine has produced two of the past three Australian Guineas winners; first emergency #17e Theanswermyfriend (9) is drawn gate nine and if he and the other emergencies come out the barrier will belong to #6 Attention (11)
• Light Fantastic (2008) was the last favourite to salute in the Australian Guineas results; #4 Hey Doc ($3.30) is out to be the net this weekend
• The other single-figure fancy in Australian Guineas betting this year is #2 Divine Prophet ($9)
• #2 Divine Prophet is out to become just the second horse to complete the Caulfield Guineas – Australian Guineas double along with Mahogany (1993/94); he is also the first to attempt the double since Helmet (2011/12)
• Just two fillies have won the race since 2007 with Shamrocker (2011) and Mosheen (2012)
• The fillies out to beat the boys in the 2017 Australian Guineas field are: #14 Harlow Gold ($16), #15 Legless Veuve ($14) and #16 Fuhryk ($14)

• The three-year-olds with previous winning form over the distance (1600m) are: #1 Prized Icon (3-2-0-0), #2 Divine Prophet (2-1-0-1), #4 Hey Doc (3-1-0-1), #5 Morton’s Fork (2-1-1-0), #14 Harlow Gold (2-1-0-0) and #17e Theanswermyfriend (2-1-1-0)
• The three-year-olds with winning Flemington track form in the race are: #1 Prized Icon (1-1-0-0), #3 Seaburge (5-1-1-0), #4 Hey Doc (3-1-1-0), #7 Oak Door (3-1-0-1), #9 Anaheim (1-1-0-0), #10 Throssell (4-1-0-1), #11 Inside Agent (3-1-1-0) and #12 Snitzeon (2-1-0-0)
• The highest Win Rate of the field belongs to #16 Fuhryk (67%) followed by #12 Snitzon (50%) and #4 Hey Doc (45%)
• The best Place Rate of the field belongs to #9 Anaheim (100%) who is yet to finish out of the money followed by #4 Hey Doc (73%), #5 Morton’s Fork (73%) and #7 Oak Door (73%)

Stay tuned for our insider 2017 Australian Guineas betting tips to be published shortly and in the meantime check out the full race form guide below courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au – offering Enhanced Australian Guineas odds (Max Bet $100 / T&Cs apply).