Elite level racing in Perth for the summer season kicks off this weekend in the form of the Group 1 $1.5 million Furphy Railway Stakes (1600m) and it is Tuvalu carrying the top-weight leading the markets.
Top-weight Tuvalu is favourite to take out the Railway Stakes 2023 in WA this weekend. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.
The Lindsey Smith-trained six-year-old will cart 58kg in the Ascot feature as he runs at the track for the first time out to return to winning form.
It has been awhile between drinks with his latest victory being the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) in October of last year.
His lead-up Melbourne form this spring has been excellent including a second to Alligator Blood on September 23 in the Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m).
At his latest start he ran third just 0.4 lengths beaten in the Group 2 Crystal Mile (1600m) at The Valley on Cox Plate Day with improvement to come.
Tuvalu is rock hard fit now, at his pet distance, is drawn favourably in gate four for Jamie Kah and is the deserving $4.80 favourite in the latest markets at Ladbrokes.
The locals are led by the Grant & Alana Williams-trained Star Turn mare Alsephina who also pays $4.80 to hand the stable their fifth Railway Stakes victory in six years.
The father-daughter duo has prepared all the Railway Stakes winners going back to 2018 with the exception of Trix Of The Trade (Colin Webster) last year.
Alsephina jumps from barrier seven on Saturday with Perth’s premier hoop William Pike in the saddle.
The five-year-old has a brilliant Ascot strike-rate (6:6-2-0), is undefeated with three previous mile victories, and is third-up now off back-to-back Group 3 seconds over less distance this campaign.
Sydney’s best trainer Chris Waller chases his second Railway Stakes success after saluting in 2015 with Good Project when he saddles-up one-time favourite Roots ($6) from out in gate 15.
The five-year-old daughter of Press Statement comes off an impressive Group 2 Hot Danish Stakes (1400m) win by 2.68 lengths at Rosehill on November 11 and is more than up to this at her best with luck from the gate.
The early Railway Stakes market mover slashed from $31 to $16 is the Lou Luciani-trained Marocchino in gate 14 with Chris Parnham in the saddle.
The seven-year-old has his 51st career start on the weekend and was an upset Group 3 Asian Beau Stakes winner over Alsephina two back at 100/1.
Others to consider at longer Railway Stakes odds include Summer Dickson’s Group 3 Eurythmic Stakes winning mare Karli’s Karma ($13), Dom To Shoot ($17) coming off a Group 2 Lee Steere Stakes second, and Forgot You ($18) coming off a Flemington win on Melbourne Cup Day.
The Railway Stakes race is scheduled to jump at 6:09pm (AWST) at Ascot on Saturday afternoon as the penultimate event on the nine-race Perth card.
2023 Railway Stakes Field & Barriers
| No | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | Penalty | Hcp Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12x79x4323 | TUVALU | Lindsey Smith | Ms Jamie Kah | 4 | 58kg | 114 | |
| 2 | 011x10x017 | MAROCCHINO | Lou Luciani | Chris Parnham | 14 | 57kg | 112 | |
| 3 | 23x5225x33 | COMFORT ME | Rhys Radford | Peter Knuckey | 18 | 54kg | 106 | |
| 4 | 45x31823x2 | DOM TO SHOOT | Sean & Jake Casey | Jordan Turner | 12 | 54kg | 106 | |
| 5 | 410x52x501 | ROOTS | Chris Waller | Tommy Berry | 15 | 54kg | 106 | |
| 6 | x1316x0x98 | TRIX OF THE TRADE | Colin Webster | Troy Turner | 1 | 54kg | 106 | |
| 7 | 2111111×22 | ALSEPHINA | Grant & Alana Williams | William Pike | 7 | 53kg | 97 | |
| 8 | 5x60113x75 | BUSTLER | Neville Parnham | Steven Parnham | 2 | 53kg | 102 | |
| 9 | 430×762931 | FORGOT YOU (NZ) | Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young | Daniel Moor | 19 | 53kg | 103 | |
| 10 | 3x11200x61 | KARLI’S KARMA | Summer Dickson | Michael Poy | 8 | 53kg | 102 | |
| 11 | x845221x30 | LAST OF THE LINE | Stephen Miller | Brad Parnham | 13 | 53kg | 103 | |
| 12 | 09x7008x44 | MASSIMO | Chris & Michael Gangemi | Clint Johnston-Porter | 17 | 53kg | 102 | |
| 13 | x11751x351 | MOJO RHYTHM | Mitchell Pateman | Ms Holly Watson | 6 | 53kg | 90 | |
| 14 | 21x0180x18 | SEARCHIN’ ROC’S | Jim Taylor | Jason Brown | 5 | 53kg | 96 | |
| 15 | x05912x809 | STARTRADE | Daniel Morton | Chris Nicoll | 10 | 53kg | 102 | |
| 16 | 141211x2x6 | THE VELVET QUEEN | Darren McAuliffe | Patrick Carbery | 16 | 53kg | 98 | |
| 17e | 2112311×34 | CASINO SEVENTEEN | Grant & Alana Williams | Shaun McGruddy | 3 | 53kg | 96 | |
| 18e | 4928322613 | LET’S GALAHVANT | Daniel & Ben Pearce | 9 | 53kg | 94 | ||
| 19e | 15×2317655 | RIVER RUBICON | Steve Wolfe | Joseph Azzopardi | 11 | 53kg | 92 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
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