Four black-type races in spring taster

The 2016 Spring Racing Carnival is just around the corner and we have four exciting black-type races to look forward to this weekend.

The highlight is in Sydney where the return of Golden Slipper winner Capitalist in the Missile Stakes will capture most of the focus.

Punters are confident that Capitalist will be able to making a winning start to his spring campaign and he is currently a favourite in the Missile Stakes betting market, but recent history is again him as the past three winners of the Golden Slipper failed to win another race.

He won’t have it his own way in the Missile Stakes and he will be the first three-year-old to contest the race since Dancer Hero beat fellow three-year-old Snippetson to take out the 2005 edition of the race.

It may be a small field, but Rebel Dane and Generalife are both very capable sprinters on their day and taking on older horses as an early three-year-old is always a difficult assignment.

The other black-type race on the Royal Randwick card is The Rosebud and it often proves to be a solid form reference for the Golden Rose Stakes.

The most interesting horse in The Rosebud nominations is Chris Waller-trained Omei Sword, but she is no certainty to take her place in the field.

Team Snowden will likely be represented by both Mediterranean and Quick Feet, the new training partnership of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have Thronum in the nominations and Team Hawkes have both Divine Prophet as well as debutant Legendofoz.

The Aurie’s Star Handicap is the feature race at Flemington this weekend and it will feature the return of a number of horses that could prove to be players during the 2016 Spring Racing Carnival.

The 1200 metres of the Aurie’s Star Handicap will likely prove too short for the likes of Dibayani, Escado, Pheidon and Tashbeeh but they are all sure to take plenty of benefit from the run.

The horse to beat in the Aurie’s Star Handicap could be Hong Kong import Smart Volatility, who is set to make the trip to Melbourne despite being included in the nominations for the Missile Stakes.

Smart Volatility is now an eight-year-old, but he had genuine Group 1 form in Hong Kong and he showed what he was capable of when he recorded an impressive victory in the Ramornie Handicap at Grafton on July 13.

The final black-type event in Australia this weekend is the Spring Stakes at Morphettville – a race that has been headlined by the return of the popular Happy Trails on a number of occasions.

Happy Trails will not contest the 2016 edition of the race, but it is still set to be an intruging race and could feature the return of Group 1 winner Hucklebuck.

Phillip Stokes was expected to save Hucklebuck for a late spring tilt at the Darley Classic at Flemington and the Kevin Heffernan Stakes at Sandown, but may have changed his plans with his star galloper.

There will be plenty of interest in all four Stakes races this weekend and the winners will all be interesting horses to follow during the 2016 Spring Racing Carnival.