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date | Sat 13 Apr 2024 |
track | Randwick |
distance | 2000m |
conditions | Weight-For-Age |
status | Group 1 |
prizemoney | $5,000,000 |
The Queen Elizabeth Stakes has been set up to be the Cox Plate of the autumn, where Australia’s best middle distance horses test themselves against each other, and tackle any international raider that wants to take us on too.
This race is the crown jewel of The Championships at Royal Randwick, which were launched in 2014. Winx won this race three times in her golden stretch of 2017-2019, adding weight to the esteem in which it is held.
Horses with international credentials like Addeybb and Criterion also sit on the honour board, and we usually see the best of the best shine through.
Dubai Honour shares the head of the market with Anaome, and those two will vie for favouritism right up until race time. Punters and bookies have decided that this is essentially a match race.
Racing isn’t always simple, although in WFA contests at this distance range it sometimes can be. Let’s take a horse like Mo’unga. The last three times he has raced Anamoe, he has lost to him by an average margin of 1.7 lengths. Dubai Honour beat him by 5.5.
A heavy track is going to add the complexity. Anamoe has won on it, including his Cox Plate, but also flopped badly last year in this race. Dubai Honour has never seen it, but shown a liking for soft tracks in Europe.
Unicorn Lion will ensure a genuine tempo, with Numerian and Mo’unga likely to push forward too. Dubai Honour will look for the one-one, and Anamoe on his back, while the rest sort themselves out.
Anamoe, is a winning machine that has won seven out of eight races this season, six of them at Group 1 WFA, including the Cox Plate. He’s a champion whichever way we look at it, is a cut above the local horses, and now gets tested against two worthy international challengers.
in his first start in Australia, Dubai Honour bolted in the Ranvet Stakes three weeks ago, looking every bit the powerhouse. He dominated the likes of Montefilia, Mo’unga and others in a more visually impressive performance than anything Anamoe has produced against those same horses.
Anamoe and Dubai Honour have drawn alongside each other, and Anamoe will likely track his key rival throughout the race. May the best horse win.
Unicorn Lion is a third tier Japanese horse that doesn’t have the credentials of 2019 Cox Plate winner Lys Gracieux, horses from the land of the rising sun tend to be competitive wherever they go. He’s an unknown on wet ground, if that’s what we strike, but he should give the two favourites something to catch.
Selections: 1.Dubai Honour 2.Anamoe 3.Unicorn Lion 4.Cascadian
WIN
* Odds Correct At Time Of Posting. Check Playup Website For Latest Odds
YEAR | HORSE | JOCKEY | TRAINERS |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Dubai Honour | Tom Marquand | William Haggas |
2022 | Think It Over | Nash Rawiller | Kerry Parker |
2021 | Addeybb | Tom Marquand | William Haggas |
2020 | Addeybb | Tom Marquand | William Haggas |
2019 | Winx | Hugh Bowman | Chris Waller |
2018 | Winx | Hugh Bowman | Chris Waller |
2017 | Winx | Hugh Bowman | Chris Waller |
2016 | Lucia Valentina | Damien Oliver | Kris Lees |
2015 | Criterion | Craig Williams | David Hayes and Tom Dabernig |
2014 | It's A Dundeel | James McDonald | Murray Baker |
2013 | Reliable Man | Hugh Bowman | Chris Waller |
2012 | More Joyous | Nash Rawiller | Gai Waterhouse |
2011 | My Kingdom of Fife | Nash Rawiller | Chris Waller |
2010 | Road To Rock | Damien Oliver | Anthony Cummings |