The last of the four Group 1s on the Randwick race card this Saturday in Sydney sees a class field of fillies and mares face off in the 2018 Queen Of The Turf Stakes, our insider betting tips and updated odds on the weight-for-age clash detailed below.
Dixie Blossoms is the Races.com.au tip to win the Queen Of The Turf Stakes 2018 at Randwick this weekend. Photo: Steve Hart.
Run this autumn as the Coolmore Legacy Stakes, the Group 1 $1 million Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) is set to run as Randwick Race 9 at 4:25pm (AEST) and the mile showdown has drawn a bumper 17 starter line-up.
Sitting top of the latest Queen Of The Turf Stakes odds at Ladbrokes.com.au paying $5.50 for the win is the Ron Quinton-trained Dixie Blossoms, third in the race 12 months ago behind Foxplay.
She has enjoyed two Group race wins since and is out to improve on her close half-length third to Prompt Response at Rosehill last time out in the Group 2 Emancipation Stakes (1500m).
Occupying the second line of Queen Of The Turf Stakes betting at $6.50 and firming is the genuine market mover Silent Sedition, heavily backed in early by the punters from $11.
Drawn in gate 10 with jockey Craig Williams booked for the ride, the Andrew Noblet-trained Silent Sedition ran fourth in last year’s race as the beaten favourite.
The now five-year-old daughter of War Chant is after atonement during this year’s ‘The Championships’ having just her second Randwick start on the back of a third to Daysee Doom in the Group 1 Coolmore Classic (1500m) from March 17.
The other Quinton-trained mare in the mix Daysee Doom is also a single-figure chance at $8.50 for Saturday despite a wide barrier 17 of 17 draw for her to overcome.
So will the best in betting salute for the punters or is there an upset Queen Of The Turf Stakes result pending this weekend from the likes of the Emancipation Stakes winner Prompt Response ($8.50) for record eight-time winning trainer Gai Waterhouse or Mick Price’s Coolmore Classic – Emancipation Stakes runner-up Oregon’s Day ($14)?
1st
#3 Dixie Blossoms ($5.50)
Hard to go past Quinton’s favourite who can go two better than her third in the race last autumn. This Street Sense five-year-old was only a half-length third in the Emancipation Stakes at Rosehill last time out, a race that has produced two of the past four Queen Of The Turf Stakes winners but neither doing the double. At Randwick Dixie will thrive. She loves this track (8:4-1-2) and returns here for the first time since kicking off her autumn with a Group 3 Guy Walter win. The step-up to a mile fourth-up also suits and even from the wide barrier (16) she shapes-up as a winning hope for the punters having made up all the late ground last time out.
2nd
#14 Samovare ($26)
Love the blowout odds on offer for this Lindsay Park-trained Savabeel four-year-old who can surprise a few with a top three run at a price. Sydney way of racing is the query for this Victorian visitor formerly prepared in Perth, but her lead-up form shows three seconds on the trot. She next past the post behind Silent Sedition in the Mannerism before Spanish Reef beta her home twice over the mile in the Matron Stakes and Sunline Stakes. Spanish Reef is out in barrier 15 on Saturday at $9.50 and Samovare at $26 in gate six? Big value here with the Magic Man Joao Moreira aboard. Ideal gate and distance, depends if this form line holds.
3rd
#17 Alizee ($11)
Sole filly taking on the older mares in the race this year. Foxplay won as a three-year-old last year and this Godolphin-raced daughter of Sepoy has class. She won at Randwick first-up in February’s Light Fingers Stakes, but has been unplaced in her three runs since. Failed to see out the 2000m in the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes at Rosehill last time out, so dropping back to a mile looks ideal. She won the Group 1 Flight Stakes at this track / distance in the spring and comes back in weight. Genuine place chance.
Whether you’re backing or sacking our exclusive Queen Of The Turf Stakes 2018 tips make sure you have access to the best Randwick racing odds this weekend through Ladbrokes.com.au.
