Horse Racing

A cracker line-up of Group races will take place at Flemington this Sunday for their Melbourne Cup Preview Day including the $250,000 Group 2 Edward Manifold Stakes (1600m).

A capacity field of 16 three-year-old fillies plus three emergencies make up the 2010 Edward Manifold Stakes final field, the majority of which are heading towards the $1 million Crown Oaks at Flemington on November 4.

Early 2010 Crown Oaks favourite and the filly that will start the favourite in the Edward Manifold Stakes on Sunday is Peter Snowden’s in-form Divorces.

Divorces has come up trumps in the barrier draw set to jump from gate one with Mark Zahra aboard seeking her second successive spring win after victory in the Group 3 Thousand Guineas Prelude (1400m) at Caulfield last start.

Prior to her Thousand Prelude win, Divorces enjoyed a good first-up run finishing second to More Strawberries in the Furious Stakes and she looks very hard to beat on Sunday.

The depth and quality of the Edward Manifold field, however, is very impressive with other top chances including Ringa Ringa Rosie, Willow Creek, Ambers Waltz and Sistine Angel.

Also drawn ideally in barrier three is the Bevan and Richard Laming-trained Ringa Ringa Rosie.

Bradbury’s Luck filly Ringa Ringa Rosie enjoyed a first-up spring win at Doomben last month but failed at her last assignment when finishing 11^th in the Guineas Prelude.

However, with a better barrier on Sunday Ringa Ringa Rosie is an excellent Place chance through Sportsbet as is Peter Moody’s Magic Night Stakes winner Willow Creek who has a slightly tougher test from barrier 13.

Tea Rose Stakes placegetter Ambers Waltz has also suffered a blow with a horror barrier 19 draw, the Glen Boss mount seeking just her second career victory.

One filly that could normally give Divorces a real run for her money is Andrew Noblet’s Sistine Angel, but in another nightmare barrier out wide in 18, the McNeil Stakes winner and Thousand Prelude runner-up could find herself stuck back in the field.

With so many of the favourites in poor barriers, the Edward Manifold Stakes is opened up with lesser known contenders given a real chance.

One runner to watch is Speed Of Dark in barrier two.

The Fusaichi Pegasus filly has won two of their four career starts and ran an eye-catching fourth in the Thousand Prelude.

With a great draw and due to be ridden by Hugh Bowman, Speed Of Dark is our top pick to cause an upset.

Lee Freedman’s Becerra is another classy starter with a good barrier four draw that makes an excellent Place or Each Way chance.

Becerra will have Michael Rodd in the saddle and enjoyed a win in the Morphettville Guineas at the start of the month over the same 1600m distance as the Edward Manifold.

The 2010 Tabcorp Edward Manifold Stakes is scheduled as Race 6 at Flemington on Sunday and is due to jump at 3:00pm.

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2010 Tabcorp Edward Manifold Stakes Final Field & Barrier Draw