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Lord Of The Sky on target for another John Monash Stakes tilt

Lord Of The Sky set to dominate. Photo: Getty Image

The Sir John Monash Stakes is the feature race in Australia this weekend and the lead-up to the event is set to be dominated by speculation about enigmatic sprinter Lord Of The Sky.

Lord Of The Sky has proven that he is an extremely talented horse on his day – he was only just beaten by Chautauqua in the 2015 T.J. Smith Stakes in Sydney and finished second in The Goodwood in Adelaide in the same year – but he has also proven to be one of the most frustrating horses in all of Australia.

The Danerich entire stamped himself as one of the most exciting sprinters in Australia when he recorded a dominant six and a half lengths victory in close to track record time at Caulfield in January of 2014, but since he was beaten as a favourite in the 2014 W.J. Adams Stakes, he has been beaten as favourite on seven occasions and has proven a very unreliable betting proposition for punters.

This will be far from the first time that Lord Of The Sky has contested the Sir John Monash Stakes.

In 2014, he justified his clear favouritism to record a dominant victory in the Group 3 event but last year he finished a most disappointing seventh after finishing second at Group 1 level in his previous two starts.

How punters deal with Lord Of The Sky in the John Monash Stakes will be fascinating and it would not surprise to see him start as a clear favourite once again in the Sir John Monash Stakes betting market.

In saying that, a number of other interesting horses have been included in the Sir John Monash Stakes nominations and it could end up being a very intriguing race.

Fast ‘N’ Rocking does not win out of turn, but this will be the easiest race that he has contested since he won the Caulfield Village during the 2015 Spring Racing Carnival.

The son of Fastnet Rock was more than competitive in the William Reid Stakes and The Goodwood at Group 1 level during the autumn and if he is able to replicate that level of performance he will be right in this race.

There is no horse in the John Monash Stakes nominations with more upside than Wild Rain and this looks like a perfect race for the talented mare first-up.

Last campaign she returned to the races with a second place finish behind subsequent Newmarket Handicap winner The Quarterback in the Dilmah Earl Grey Stakes at Flemington on Crown Oaks Day and she was also placed in the Magic Millions Classic at Ballarat and the Magic Millions Sprint at the Gold Coast, while she took out the City Of Greater Dandenong Stakes at Sandown.

Trainer Mark Kavanagh has booked Damien Oliver to take the ride on Wild Rain in the Sir John Monash Stakes and the champion hoop will be desperate to perform at his best in his first metropolitan meeting since returning from the suspension he received at the Warrnambool Carnival.

When you throw in the likes of Atmospherical, General Truce, Le Bonsir, Olivier, Thermal Current, Tudor and Weinholt the 2016 edition of the John Monash Stakes has the chance to be the strongest we have seen for a number of years!