Chief Stipe Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 Subscribe Login Group 1 RacingNSW Stars are ready to shine in Queen Elizabeth showdown British Bulldog, Addeybb, won the 2020 and 2021 Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Picture: Picture: AAP Image By Ray Thomas07:09pm • 04 April 2022 1 Comments The cliches are getting a workout this week like the “race of the century”, the “clash of champions” or a “race for the ages”. But the truth of the matter is they all apply. It’s not just hype. When the field goes into the barriers for the $4 million Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday, this will be the most exciting race in years. Verry Elleegant is looking for a 12th Group 1 victory in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday. Picture: Grant Guy Racing NSW introduced The Championships in 2014 with cynics suggesting the concept wouldn’t last and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes would never rival the Cox Plate as the nation’s best weight-for-age race. The Championships, billed as the “Grand Finals of Australian Racing”, are here to stay because they are perfectly positioned later in the season to showcase the nation’s best equine talent. Nothing personifies The Championships more than the Queen Elizabeth Stakes which brings together the best weight-for-age horses in training, the seasoned champs, the new challengers and the boom three-year-olds, over the classic distance of 2000m. The Queen Elizabeth Stakes invariably rates among the nation’s top two races each year and Saturday’s showdown will continue that tradition. The competitor in Chris Waller, trainer of favourite Verry Elleegant, said the Queen Elizabeth Stakes provides the platform for the “best to compete against the best”. “This will be an outstanding race,’’ Waller said. “Earlier in my career, I used to put my horses in the easiest races but with Winx I realised how important it was for racing to put the good horses against each other. Australian Cup and Tancred Stakes winner Duais is pushing for favouritism for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Picture: Getty Images “This is what the racing public wants to see and it is what makes this sport so exciting.’’ And it doesn’t get any better than Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes field. If Verry Elleegant can win the Queen Elizabeth, it will be her 12th Group 1 success and boost her prizemoney over $17 million, making her the third highest earner of all time behind Winx on $26.4 million and Nature Strip on $17.9 million. But this is shaping as the greatest challenge of Verry Elleegant’s career with her rivals including the rampant Zaaki, the imported superstar from the Annabel Neasham stable who has won the Doomben Cup, Underwood Stakes and Mackinnon Stakes at Group 1 level, plus the All-Star Mile and more than $6 million in prizemoney in a stellar 12 months in Australian racing. There is Duais, the outstanding mare from the Edward Cummings stable, who emulated the legendary Makybe Diva by winning the Australian Cup and Tancred Stakes, her most recent win so emphatic she is challenging for Queen Elizabeth Stakes favouritism. The maestro David Payne has prepared more than 100 Group 1 winners during his training career and he has another outstanding galloper in Montefilia, the underrated mare who has won four majors and did what few horses have been able to do and that was “out-tough” Verry Elleegant in the Ranvet Stakes last start. Anamoe, fresh from a brilliant win in the Rosehill Guineas, will take on the older horses for the first time since his narrow Cox Plate second placing. Picture: Grant Guy Think It Over is right in the mix. The “warhorse” is trained out of Kembla Grange by Kerry Parker but he has emerged as an elite level weight-for-age horse with his wins in the last year in the George Ryder Stakes, Chelmsford Stakes, Hill Stakes, Craven Plate, Rosehill Gold Cup and Apollo Stakes. I’m Thunderstruck won the Golden Eagle last spring, finished second in the All-Star Mile and Doncaster Mile at his last two starts and could back-up in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Mr Brightside, the Doncaster winner, is some chance too. And you can’t forget Anamoe, the crack colt from the Godolphin stable who won the Rosehill Guineas by nearly seven lengths last start. The James Cummings-trained three-year-old brings that “X factor” to the Queen Elizabeth Stakes field. The Queen Elizabeth Stakes has become an iconic race during the Sydney autumn carnival producing some of the most memorable moments in Australian racing in recent years. The clashes between Addeybb and Verry Elleegant as they ran 1-2 in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2020 and again last year were pure box office. Mighty mare Winx’s three-peat demonstrated her absolute dominance with her farewell triumph in 2019 triumph an emotional and unforgettable race day before a massive 43,000-plus Randwick crowd. Intergaze (left) was the last three-year-old to win the Queen Elizabeth Stakes when he beat Octagonal (right) in 1997. There’s been some shock results in this race, too. The fairytale end to the race careers of Octagonal (1997) and his son Lonhro (2004) didn’t go to script when both were beaten in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Octagonal couldn’t run down Intergaze, the last three-year-old to win the race, while you could have heard a pin drop when Grand Armee ran away to upset Lonhro. But what about the 1998 win of Might And Power. He was at his destructive best that day, streaking clear of his rivals to win by more than 10 lengths. This is only a snapshot of the racing highlights the Queen Elizabeth Stakes provides every year – but Saturday’s race could trump them all. “It’s always an additional benefit to have some international participation but even without an overseas horse this year’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes is shaping as a vintage renewal,’’ said ATC’s James Ross. “The Queen Elizabeth has been for some time the highest rating race in Australia and Saturday’s race is likely to be the same. “To see Verry Elleegant competing against the winners of all the feature races – this is the ‘Grand Final” of Australian racing.’’ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holy ravioli Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 Crack field alright. Any news on VE's 'injury' from its last run ,when beaten by Montefilia Chief?😛 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted April 5, 2022 Author Share Posted April 5, 2022 18 minutes ago, holy ravioli said: Crack field alright. Any news on VE's 'injury' from its last run ,when beaten by Montefilia Chief?😛 So it's clear you only post on the only forum you have access to to do what? Enjoy because BOAY allows your crap to be on line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holy ravioli Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 54 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: So it's clear you only post on the only forum you have access to to do what? Enjoy because BOAY allows your crap to be on line. 'wouldn't be surprised to hear that she hurt herself in the first 400m.'-that's what you said. You should back yourself instead of getting hissy.None of us is right all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holy ravioli Posted April 9, 2022 Share Posted April 9, 2022 Laying VE today.Lots of dangers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gammalite Posted April 9, 2022 Share Posted April 9, 2022 Best ride I've ever seen. Take a Bow Nash Rawiller !! A field of very smart wet-trackers.... Nash wins the race with the non-mudder by daring solo tactic !!! THINK IT OVER is exciting Queen Elizabeth winner . how good was that ??? supreme. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted April 9, 2022 Author Share Posted April 9, 2022 17 hours ago, Gammalite said: Best ride I've ever seen. Take a Bow Nash Rawiller !! A field of very smart wet-trackers.... Maybe but why did he need to cheat? Two week suspension and a $40,000 fine. Rawiller cops massive penalty for memorable Queen Elizabeth ride Nash Rawiller gets to work aboard Think It Over enroute to victory in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick on Saturday. Photo: Mark Evans/Getty Images. By Clinton Payne08:27pm • 09 April 2022 0 Comments Nash Rawiller shook his head in disbelief after stewards slapped him with a huge excessive whip use penalty from the Queen Elizabeth Stakes which he won aboard the Kerry Parker-trained Think It Over. Rawiller guided the popular gelding to a giant killing victory when trouncing the likes of Verry Elleegant, Zaaki, Duais and Anamoe in the $4 million weight-for-age contest. “What a horse,” Rawiller said after the race. ”I had a lot of good horses behind me. “I don’t want to carry on about what I did, it’s all about Kerry Parker and his team down at Kembla Grange. “To come around and win this big race, it’s one in a million and he’s pulled it off today. “It was unreal.” But stewards quickly removed the smile from Rawiller’s face when issuing a two-week suspension and $40,000 fine for the jockey’s excessive whip use. Rawiller pleaded guilty to striking Think It Over eight times prior to the final 100 metres and 20 times in total. Under NSW whip rules, a jockey is allowed to breach the five strikes prior to the final 100m rule provided they don’t hit the horse more than 18 times in total during the race. When handing down the penalty chief steward Marc Van Gestel told Rawiller there were multiple factors for the heavy penalty. “The Queen Elizabeth Stakes is one of our flagship races of the autumn”, Think It Over’s winning margin was “half-a-length” and (taking into account) Rawiller’s past whip record “particularly in feature races”. Rawiller’s suspension starts on Sunday week and he is free to resume riding from Monday, May 2. Think It Over earned $2.3 million for winning the Queen Elizabeth, Rawiller’s five per cent winning riding fee totalled $115,000. The former champion Sydney rider was fined $2000 last week for a whip breach aboard Commando Hunt which finished second in the Country Championships Final. On that occasion, Rawiller struck that galloper eight times prior to the final 100m and 19 times in total. Rawiller’s previous whip use penalty was a $20,000 fine and six meeting suspension he incurred aboard Eduardo in The Everest last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holy ravioli Posted April 10, 2022 Share Posted April 10, 2022 'Cheating' was very expensive. Wondering where the dismay with the large fine is! Expected comparable examples of excessive whip use and the huge disparity. So what if it's a Group race!😜 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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