TOORAK HANDICAP
1600m, $500,000, handicap
HISTORY
* First run in 1881 when won by Josephine
* Group One since 1979
* Run over 1700m 1931-35, 1800m 1891.
* Held at Flemington 1940-43 (WWII)
NOTABLE WINNERS
* The Trump (1937), Royal Gem (1946), Galilee (1966), Tobin Bronze (1967), Gunsynd (1971), All Shot (1972), Leilani (1974), Magari (1982), Cole Diesel (1989), Umrum (1999 & 2000), Alamosa (2008), More Joyous (2010), Solzhenitsyn (2012,13), Trust In A Gust (2014), Tosen Stardom (2017)
TALKING POINTS
* Only four trainers have been successful in the past eight years: Darren Weir four times, Robert Heathcote twice, Lindsay Park once and Snowden Racing once
* New Zealand quartet Madison County, Night’s Watch, Wyndspelle, Age of Chivalry and Order Again can make it two Kiwi winners in four years after He’s Our Rokkii’s 2016 victory
WHAT THE KEY PLAYERS ARE SAYING
“He just didn’t get much of a go the other day in the Rupert Clarke first-up. He pushed out and the gap closed and then he pushed out again” – Madison County’s Murray Baker
“I thought she was very good at The Valley and she’s made good progress from the run. I think she will run a very good race” – Princess Jenni’s trainer David Brideoake
“He’s sharp and a lot of his best form is actually over 1400 metres and a mile. No Group One is easy but we’re hopeful that he’s going to be a genuine winning chance and justify us waiting that extra week” – Chris Waller’s racing manager Charlie Duckworth on Night’s Watch
“First-up he was really disappointing and we couldn’t really make many excuses for it. He’s not a Group One weight-for-age horse but he probably is a Group One handicap horse” – Duckworth on Tom Melbourne
“Everything’s going well heading into Saturday. He’s travelled over nicely and done everything right. He’s a pretty seasoned horse and has done all of this before” – Wyndspelle’s co-trainer Johno Benner
