Saturday sees Rosehill host the 2023 running of the H E Tancred Stakes, one of Australia’s most important Group 1 contests.
Thirteen runners will battle out the 1 mile 4 furlong race on the turf for the A$1,500,000 prize money, with Gold Trip the current favourite at 4.33 with William Hill.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: March 23rd, 9:30 A.M. (GMT)
The 6-year-old, with Mark Zahra on board, ran at Rosehill last weekend too, finishing fifth of seven in the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes.
That was two furlongs shorter than the Tancred, and trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace will be confident of him doing better over the longer trip as he proved over 2 miles in the Melbourne Cup.
The win at Flemington at 21.00 was Gold Trip’s first win since June 2020, so patchy form should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Having the least weight to carry will suit 5.00 chance Montefilia who was second in the Ranvet last week, her best performance under Dylan Gibbons and the 5-year-old’s first victory since the same race last year.
She was fourth in the Caulfield Cup, though nowhere near the places in the Melbourne Cup.
Kerrin McEvoy rides Cleveland for the first time for Joseph O’Brien and is currently at 6.50.
Coming off a long break, his last performance was a fourth in the Irish Cesarewitch at The Curragh in September. Before that he was narrowly beaten in a Grade 3 at Leopardstown. That is the 5-year-old’s only graded appearance thus far, though clearly this race has been a target for a while.
Knight’s Order is fairly well fancied at 8.50 though his form leaves a lot to be desired; finishing no better than sixth of twelve in his last three runs, with that coming in the most recent run, a Group 3 at Rosehill a fortnight ago.
However, third place in the Caulfield Cup was a very respectable result and Timothy Clark will be on board once more.
Vow And Declare (10.00) has not been tested since victory in a Group 2 at Caulfield in November and Nash Rawiller will ride for the first time, though the 7-year-old is used to regular jockey changes.
Victory in the Canberra Cup this month has put Arapaho in the each-way picture at 11.00 after some disappointing runs over shorter trips. At the same price is Sir Lucan who returned to action at Rosehill last week in the Group 3 N E Manion Cup after 501 days off the track, last appearing in the 2021 Melbourne Cup.
It is 13.00 bar those.
