This Saturday, August 29, marks the beginning of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival’s Group 1 racing with Memsie Stakes Day 2015 lighting up Caulfield Racecourse.

It is a showery and cold end-of-winter’s day at Caulfield with a top of only 12 degrees and rain predicted throughout the afternoon meaning there is no likely upgrade to the track’s current Soft (5) rating.

Caulfield Track Report – 29/08/2015

• Rail: +6m Entire Circuit
• Weather: Overcast / Showers
• Track Type: Turf
• Irrigation: Nil
• Rainfall: 1.4mm last 24hrs, 20.8mm last 7 days
• Track Information: Chance of possible showers
• Penetrometer: 5.26
• Track Rating: Soft (5)

The meeting’s bumper nine-race program is due to kick off at 12:25pm (AEST) and continues through until the stayers face off in the final black-type on the card at 5:20pm (AEST).

Of course the line-up is headlined by the marquee race, the $400,000 Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) that runs as Caulfield Race 8 at 4:45pm (AEST) and where Fawkner as well as the three other emergencies aside from Stratum Star who now gets a run have come out of the field.

See below for the total Caulfield Memsie Stakes Day scratchings then head to Ladbrokes.com.au to enjoy Best Tote or SP + 20% on your winnings on the day’s Group 1 feature race!

Caulfield Race Scratchings – 29/08/2015

Total Scratchings: 19

Race 1 (12:25pm) – $80,000 Cape Grim Beef Plate (1400m)

• #4 Berrimilla (8)
• #9 Black Booty (3)
• Two come out of the first leaving just seven older gallopers, the favourite and market mover of which is the rails-drawn Danestroem ($3.80). Great value in a number of others though including the classy Set Square ($8) who even with the big weight (61.5kg) should be charging home late. Enjoying a drop in weights meanwhile is Kansas Sunflower ($4.80) coming off a second over the Flemington mile carrying 60kg, her six kilo relief here a massive advantage.

Race 2 (12:55pm) – $80,000 Montague Tree Handicap (1400m)

• No current scratchings

All 10 of the original acceptors are still in the mix for this three-year-old fillies’ feature that could feature a number of hopes that continue onto the Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) on October 10. Hot favourite is Alaskan Rose ($2.10) having just her second career start after a dominant win on debut that didn’t look all that hard for her. Giulietta ($8.50) also has claims with blinkers going on and a positive ride coming from Kerrin McEvoy.

Race 3 (1:30pm) – $50,000 Catanach’s Jewellers Handicap (1200m)

• #5 Counter Spin (19)
• #18e Lord Esprit (18)
• #19e Master Sommelier (9)
• #20e Amiconi Originale (13)

Third race on the card is a handicap sprint with a capacity field, the markets for which are led by the returning Real Time ($6) from the local Robert Smerdon stables. The Testa Rossa gelding is only lightly raced and boasts four wins from seven starts to date including last time out on the Gold Coast back in January.

Race 4 (2:10pm) – $150,000 Group 3 H.D.F. McNeil Stakes (1200m)

• #8 Equinova (7)
• #9 Brockhoff (9)

First black-type of the day, the McNeil Stakes field is down to just eight starters, the top three-year-old according to the bookies being the undefeated Mick Price-trained Prince Of Brooklyn ($3.20). His 2015 Caulfield Guineas-bound stablemate Ready For Victory ($4.80) also has first-up claims here and could be the value bet in the line-up that also features Gold Symphony ($9.50) with a nice draw (2) and fitness edge coming off a Group 3 Vain Stakes (1100m) win at the track a fortnight back.

Race 5 (2:45pm) – $150,000 Group 3 theshark.com.au Stakes (1100m)

• No current scratchings

Stakes racing continues in the fifth with another small eight-starter field for the race also known as The Heath 1100 Stakes. The bookies’ pick is Rich Enuff ($2.70) with the rails run and Dwayne Dunn in the saddle of Ken Keys’ returning Caulfield Guineas runner-up from last spring. Hasn’t raced since November but comes off back-to-back trial wins and looks ready to return to his best form.

Race 6 (3:25pm) – $90,000 hockingstuart Handicap (1400m)

• #8 Scream Machine (14)
• #10 Stratum Star (18)
• #12 Moonovermanhattan (17)
• #13 Luckyi’mbarefoot (2)

A break from black-type in Race 6 with a handicap clash featuring some in-form types including the clear $2.80 favourite and market mover, backed in from $3.60, Charmed Harmony. John Sadler’s Hussonet six-year-old carries a notable 60kg here but gets the run of the race from barrier one and shoots for a fourth straight win following some top lead-up form, all three recent wins being over the same 1400m distance to give him a top record over those metres (10-6-1-0).

Race 7 (4:05pm) – $150,000 Group 3 William Hill Sprint Series Heat 1 Stakes (1200m)

• #11 Nadeem Lass (1)

The Cockram Stakes for the older mares has a bumper field of 16, the favourite at $3.80 being the emergency Vezalay who gets a run with the early scratching of Nadeem Lass. Leon & Troy Corstens’ Shamardal four-year-old comes off a 1100m win at the track first-up on August 15 that she’ll look to repeat here in better company, facing some tough types including Gai Waterhouse’s Group 1 winner Cosmic Endeavour ($4.60).

Race 8 (4:45pm) – $400,000 Group 1 New Zealand Bloodstock Memsie Stakes (1400m)

• #1 Fawkner (18)
• #18e Trevieres (4)
• #19e Pressing (19)
• #20e Charmed Harmony (15)

Headline race of the day the weight-for-age Memsie Stakes field runs at capacity and features a line-up mainly made-up by returning stayers. All the money in Memsie Stakes betting at Ladbrokes.com.au is on the Chris Waller-trained four-time Group 1 winner Boban ($4.80) who was fifth in the race last year as the beaten favourite. Also money coming for the rails-drawn Hi World ($7) with Kerrin McEvoy riding the High Chaparral four-year-old. Hi World won three on the trot in the autumn in Sydney including a Group 3 over 2000m, so how he handles the Melbourne way of racing is key to whether trainer Peter Moody can go back-to-back in the Memsie after the success of Dissident (2014) 12 months ago.

Race 9 (5:20pm) – $120,000 Listed Sheen Group Heatherlie Stakes (1700m)

• #17e Pacific Heights (3)
• #18e Another Lad Al (5)

Card closer is the Heatherlie Stakes with 16 in the mix including the narrow $4.80 favourite Iggimacool coming off back-to-back seconds where she charged home late, a big field and on speed run to suit here as she looks to hold off the likes of Waterhouse’s Group 3 winning import Excess Knowledge ($5) and market mover Bold Sniper ($7).