Group 1 racing returns down under in Melbourne on Saturday in the form of the $750,000 Neds C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m) and it is shaping up as an outstanding edition of the Caulfield weight-for-age showdown.
Sinawann heads the field and markets for the opening Group 1 of the year down under – Saturday’s C.F. Orr Stakes. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.
This season’s C.F. Orr Stakes field features a dozen autumn hopefuls led in betting by the Anthony & Sam Freedman-trained Sinawann.
Drawn in gate six with Craig Williams in the saddle, the Irish-bred Kingman entire has the fitness edge racing second-up.
He was the ‘best of the rest’ behind tearaway winner Marabi at The Valley on January 29 in the Group 2 Australia Stakes (1200m) and looks the one to beat getting out over 1400m.
Sinawann won at this track and distance last November in the Group 3 Kevin Heffernan Stakes (1400m) with Williams aboard and is at a current quote of $4 and firming through Ladbrokes.com.au to repeat the feat in tougher company on the weekend.
There are four other single-figure fancies at time of publish in C.F. Orr Stakes betting with Behemoth the close $5.50 second-elect also coming off a lead-up second.
Jumping from barrier nine with the talented Jamie Kah aboard, David Jolly’s South Australian star is out to atone for his first-up second as the beaten odds-on favourite at home a fortnight ago.
With a good second-up record (8:3-1-0), the six-year-old son of All Too Hard has won three Group 1s at this track and distance including back-to-back Group 1 Memsie Stakes victories in 2020 and 2021.
Occupying the third line of betting at $6 out in barrier 11 first-up is the resuming $7.5 million The Golden Eagle champion I’m Thunderstruck.
Jye McNeil partners the Mick Price & Michael Kent Junior-trained galloper who is six-from-nine to date with a strong record at Caulfield (5:5-2-0-2).
A four-year-old son of former Melbourne Cup winner Shocking, I’m Thunderstruck won the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) here in early October before his lucrative Rosehill win in the four-year-olds’ feature race of the year.
Tofane is also right in the mix at $6.50 for trainer Michael Moroney, the Ocean Park mare a gun performer at the 1400m.
She won the Group 1 Tattersall’s Tiara (1400m) in Brisbane over the distance last winter before a string of good Melbourne runs including a Memsie Stakes third behind Behemoth and Toorak Handicap second behind I’m Thunderstruck.
The last of the runners under $10 to claim the year’s first Australian Group 1 race is then classy grey Lighthouse for Ciaron Maher & David Eustace.
The American-bred daughter of Mizzen Mast races over her pet distance in the Orr (4:3-1-0) and is up notably in grade after a lead-up second behind Open Minded in the Listed Barton Stakes (1400m) here on Australia Day.
Also of note at $10 is the Peter Moody-trained Lightsaber, the Zoustar colt out to join Alabama Express (2020) and All Too Hard (2013) as the most recent three-year-old C.F. Orr winners.
Moody chases a record sixth C.F. Orr Stakes win having claimed the event five times from 2010 – 2016 with former champion mares Typhoon Tracy (2010-11) and Black Caviar (2012), along with the aforementioned All Too Hard (2013) and most recently Dissident (2015).
Lightsaber has won three from four at the 1400m and comes off a fourth place finish in the Australia Stakes first-up and Moody is eying this autumn’s $5 million The All-Star Mile (1600m) at Flemington on March 19 should he gain an entry.
“I’m looking forward to giving him his chance,” Moody told RS NewsWire this week.
“He’s a three-year-old taking on the older horses. He’s in good order and it will give us a realistic guide where he sits in the food chain.
“After Saturday, do we look at the Futurity Stakes (1400m, February 26) and the All-Star Mile (1600m, March 19), or do we come back a peg to lesser three-year-old races.”
The 2022 C.F. Orr Stakes is set to run as Caulfield Race 8 at 5:05pm (AEDT) on Saturday’s nine-race card.
The post 2022 CF Orr Stakes Field: Group 1 Racing Returns appeared first on HorseRacing.com.au.
