A small but select field has been assembled for Saturday’s Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington, with just eight horses accepting to run.
The Memsie Stakes (1400m) looks to be the main form reference, with five of the eight runners coming through the Caulfield Group 1 last start, including the two horses that filled the minor placings behind Snapdancer – I’m Thunderstruck and Cascadian.
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The Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr-trained I’m Thunderstruck has opened the $2.40 favourite with online bookmakers following his last-start second, while Cascadian is a $5.50 chance after his fast-finishing third in the Memsie.
Alligator Blood ($5) was unlucky in the Memsie Stakes, so the bookies are happy to forgive his five-length defeat as he looks to bounce back and keep his unbeaten record at Flemington intact.
Mo’unga ($10) finished second in this race last year on the back of a Winx Stakes (1400m) victory, and while he has followed the same preparation towards the Makybe Diva, he failed to beat a runner home in the Winx on August 20 at Randwick.
In three starts at Flemington, Mo’unga has never finished outside of the placings, running third in the CS Hayes Stakes (1400m) as a three-year-old and then running third in the Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) behind Zaaki last spring following his runner-up effort to Incentivise in the 2021 edition of this race.
Stayers She’s Ideel, Nonconformist and Regal Power will all be looking for further than the 1600m, but Regal Power’s stablemate Western Empire is one who will be ready to fire second-up.
The Western Australian galloper already has a Group 1 win under his belt over 1600m in the Railway Stakes at Ascot, so he will be looking to add a second major race victory to his already impressive CV.
The Makybe Diva Stakes will jump at 2:55pm AEST on Saturday, September 10.
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