Godolphin on track for second consecutive Golden Rose
Talented colt Astern remains on track to deliver Godolphin a second-consecutive win in the Group 1 Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse on Saturday.
Astern has been a strong and consistent performer for the major international racing syndicate throughout his short but impressive racing career so far and is set to enter the Golden Rose in winning form, having taken out the Group 2 The Run To The Rose (1200m) a fortnight ago.
The Medaglia D’oro colt immediately stamped himself as one to watch via a dominant win at Randwick on debut in December, before resuming this year for another classy win in the Group 2 Silver Slipper Stakes (1100m) on February 20th.
Having gone amiss when eleventh in the Group 1 Golden Slipper (1200m), Astern was returned to the paddock after atoning in the Group 3 Kindergarten Stakes (1200m) during The Championships; a race he dead-heated with fellow Golden Rose hopeful El Divino.
A race won by former stable mate Exosphere in 2015, Astern remains on the top line of the 2016 Golden Rose betting market.
Blue blood El Divino immediately responded to the hype that surrounded his competitive debut when he recorded a dominant win at Gosford in March, before making a successful transition to black type company in the Kindergarten Stakes.
Running on for a credible fourth in The Run To The Rose first-up this time, the half-brother of champion mare Winx has reportedly taken great benefit from the hit-out and should relish a step up to 1400m in the Golden Rose.
Leading trainer Chris Waller will launch a typically strong attack in the Golden Rose, but is yet to confirm if exciting filly Omei Sword will take her position in the field.
Omei Sword produced a number of classy efforts through her maiden racing campaign in autumn, but has clearly taken a great deal of benefit from her time away from competition and is in line for a standout spring preparation after delivering a smart field a near-four length defeat in the Group 2 Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m) first-up.
Debuting for a comfortable win at Rosehill in late February, Omei Sword charged home for a close second behind Calliope in the Group 2 Magic Night Stakes (1200m), but had clearly had enough by the time she finished ninth in the Group 1 ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) behind Yankee Rose.
Waller confirmed that the Group 1 Flight Stakes (1600m) on October 1st remains the major campaign target for the daughter of High Chaparral, but is yet to decide which of the Golden Rose or Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes (1400m) next weekend figures as a better lead-in option.
Trainer David Vandyke has elected to stick with his tried-and-true formula of saddling Yankee Rose in a Group 1 feature race first-up, when she returns in the Golden Rose.
Purchased for only $10,000, the All American filly won a pair of Rosehill Gardens races over 1100m in late 2015 before returning this year for a close second behind Capitalist in the Golden Slipper.
Yankee Rose has not been seen at the races since she broke through for her first win at the highest level in the Inglis Sires’, but galloped well in between races at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday; having seemingly overcome a few niggling issues.
The Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) is the feature race at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse on Saturday, and is set to have a notable bearing on the paths taken by several gallopers through the resulting Spring Carnival.
One horse that will carry plenty of benefit into the Makybe Diva Stakes is Tarzino, who attacked the line for eighth in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) first-up and will relish a return to a mile.
The Makybe Diva Stakes historically draws one of the spring’s more diverse fields and that is set to be the case once more on Saturday, when the likes of Black Heart Bart and Alpine Eagle line up with genuine stayers like Our Ivanhowe; making for a particularly interesting race from a betting perspective.