Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne is host to the best of the ANZAC Day races this Wednesday including the traditional VRC St Leger 2018 featuring a line-up of quality three-year-old stayers.
Jockey Craig Williams rides Wednesday’s clear VRC St Leger 2018 favourite Astoria at Flemington. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.
Due to run as Flemington Race 6 at 4:00pm (AEST), this year’s Listed $200,000 VRC St Leger (2800m) features a capacity line-up of 16 hopefuls plus an emergency making for a quality clash.
Sitting top of the VRC St Leger betting markets at Ladbrokes.com.au paying a short $2.15 and firming is the highly-rated Astoria for Godolphin.
The James Cummings-trained Medaglia D’Oro colt is looking to break a winning drought not having won a race since Newcastle’s Group 3 Spring Stakes (1600m) last September.
This shapes up as a far easier assignment to what he has been racing in class-wise of late however, last year’s VRC Derby third placegetter having had five Group runs since February for three placings.
His last start was the disappointing Group 1 ATC Derby (2400m) 17th of 18 runners when things went amiss, but the punters are happy to forgive and forget the run.
Despite the bumper size of the VRC St Leger field this autumn just one other runners is under double-figures to win with High Energy at $7.50).
Victoria’s leading trainer Darren Weir saddles-up the son of High Chaparral who comes off a close fourth when under a length beaten as a $71 roughie in the Listed Galilee Final (2400m).
Weir also has Maheera in the mix, the Artie Schiller filly sixth in the same lead-up and an $18 chance to salute from the outside barrier on Wednesday.
Leading the field out with the No. 1 saddlecloth and also drawn wide is the Lindsay Park-trained Won Won Too, the son of Tavistock bred to stay and coming off the Galilee Final victory.
He scored an upset at $26 there over the mile and a half at Caulfield on April 14 defeating a number of these same rivals and is at $12 to do it again.
Won Won Too is joined in the line-up on Wednesday by three other Lindsay Park-trained three-year-olds including Rezealient ($12) one on his inside coming off a second in the Galilee Final.
The stable’s contingent is rounded out by Creedence ($34) getting the blinkers on here for the first time and perennial placegetter Fantastic Rock ($26) coming off three straight thirds outside of the city.
Other notable hopes in the mix include the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained son of Manhattan Rain Runaway ($15) who gets a soft run from barrier two after a narrow win over 2218m at Geelong from April 17 carrying 2.5kg more weight and the rails-drawn Wolfe Tone ($16) for Cranbourne trainer Francis Finnegan.
See below for the full VRC St Leger 2018 field and betting markets, ANZAC Stakes Day odds for Flemington open now at Ladbrokes.com.au.
