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Five to Watch in the Tancred Stakes
From Dan Price: March 2019

Some of the finest stayers in Australia will converge upon Rosehill on Saturday to battle it out for glory in the Group 1 Tancred Stakes. Also known as The BMW, this is one of the top staying tests in the Australian racing calendar and it comes with a $1.5 million prize purse. Superstar winners this century include Makybe Diva, Ethereal and Preferment. Here are five horses that could follow in those illustrious footsteps on Saturday:

 

Avilius

Godolphin import Avilius impressed as he surged to victory in the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill over 2000m on Saturday. That saw him return to winning ways after finishing a disappointing fifth in the Australian Cup, a race that saw him go off as the $1.65 favourite. The five-year-old has now won three of his four starts this year and he remains unbeaten in Sydney. He could be handed the near-impossible task of trying to get the better of the mighty Winx in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, but Goldophin is much more likely to back him up in the Tancred Stakes. He came from a difficult position to land a dominant triumph in the Ranvet and he clearly enjoys this track. If you check out the horse racing futures betting, you will see Avilius as the favourite to win this race and deservedly so, as he is in fine form. That has seen him win nine of his 17 starts and rack up $1.5 million in prize money, so there will be a lot of hype surrounding him ahead of the Tancred. If he goes for the race and secures victory, he will become the sixth horse since 1995 to complete the Ravnet-Tancred double.

Red Cardinal

Former European galloper Red Cardinal is flourishing on the rain-affected Harbour City tracks and he has a perfect record under Kris Lees. He never quite delivered on his promise at the Darren Weir stable, but since joining up with Lees he has landed the Parramatta Cup and the Sky High Stakes at Rosehill. That has been enough to earn him a shot at the Tancred Stakes en route to taking on the Sydney Cup over 3200m next month. This will represent a significant step up in class, but he has improved massively this year and Lees should be feeling quietly confident. If the ground remains soft for the Tancred he will be a really popular option among punters for this race.

Shraaoh

Chris Waller's six-year-old was just a head short of Hiyaam when finishing second in a Listed handicap at Randwick first up this season. He then stepped up to 2400m in the Group 3 Irresistible Pools N E Manion Cup at the weekend and finished third. He was the $3.70 favourite to win the race, but European import Midterm was the one to handle the wet conditions to perfection, holding off Big Duke and Shraaoh. The wet track should not have been an issue for Shraaoh, as he won on a heavy track at Flemington over 2800m in the spring, and he will need to improve if he is to win the Tancred Stakes.

Unforgotten

Since 2000, nine winners of the Tancred have come from the Ravnet and that could spell good news for Unforgotten. She is also from the Chris Waller stable and she has five wins from 15 starts, including a Group 1 triumph. She was a Group 2 winner at the $250,000 Bisley Workwear Chelmsford Stakes at Randwick over 1600m last year and she impressed when finishing third in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes at the start of this month. Stablemate Winx wrapped up a classy victory, followed by Happy Clapper, but there is no shame in finishing third to those two. "I could honestly say Unforgotten is probably the best horse Winx has worked with and Unforgotten worked really well but Winx just did it as she does on raceday," said jockey Hugh Bowman. Unforgotten was fourth at the Ravnet on Saturday, but she has the potential to improve upon that.

Eminent

The son of the legendary Frankel was snapped up for $225,000 as a yearling and trained by Martin Meade in England. In his three-year-old season he won two Group races and finished fourth in the Epsom Derby, one of the world's most famous and prestigious races. He beat Avilius in the Group 2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano (2000m) at Deauville in August 2017. He then finished third behind superstars Decorated Knight and Poet's Word in the G1 Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown. He struggled in his four-year-old season and he was found to have a fibrillating heart. He was brought back to New Zealand with the idea of retiring him to stud, but owner Sir Peter Vela allowed Sir Mark Todd - New Zealand's greatest Olympic eventer and a former trainer of stars like Bramble Rose - to have a crack at a final Group 1 race. He finished second to Avilius in the Ravnet at the weekend and he could now have another go in the Tancred. The Ravnet was his first start since August, so to finish second was a great achievement. "He was gallant in defeat," said jockey James McDonald. "It took a fit horse to beat him." As he grows in fitness he could become a formidable stayer this season.

 


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