Clear early favourite to win Saturday week’s Victoria Derby Tarzino is the headline nomination taken for this weekend’s Moonee Valley Vase 2015 at Moonee Valley Racecourse.

Victoria Derby favourite Tarzino is nominated for Saturday’s 2015 Moonee Valley Vase on Cox Plate Day. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

One of the major support acts on the Cox Plate Day program in Melbourne this Saturday, the $200,000 Group 2 Dilmah Exceptional Teas Vase (2040m) has attracted 21 three-year-olds at nomination stage.

A host of those head towards the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival’s richest 3YOs race, the $1.5 million Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington on October 31.

Leading the all-in Victoria Derby betting odds at Ladbrokes.com.au, who are offering Best Tote or SP + 20% on the entire Cox Plate Day card this weekend, is the Mick Price-trained Tarzino ($3.80).

The Tavistock colt has won two of his four starts to date, but has had just the one run in black-type company when thrown in the deep end in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) on October 10.

He ran a credible seventh in the race behind Press Statement and is tipped to improve the further he goes with the Moonee Valley Vase to be his first run over further than a mile if accepted.

Price has also nominated for Coller Bay in the Vase, the maiden yet to finish better than fifth in his two starts to date.

The next three best fancied early Victoria Derby hopes at an all-in price of $13 to win the lucrative Group 1 classic who are entered for the Vase this year are Pay Up Bro, Sovereign Nation and Tally.

John Moloney trains Husson grey Pay Up Bro who comes off a fourth to Ayers Rock in the Listed UCI Stakes (1800m) at Flemington on Turnbull Stakes Day while Sovereign Nation comes from the Lindsay Park stables of David Hayes & Tom Dabernig.

Encosta De Lago colt Sovereign Nation has a 50% strike rate to date and has winning form at Moonee Valley having taken out the Group 2 Bill Stutt Stakes (1600m) at the track before his good fourth as a 21/1 outsider in the Caulfield Guineas last time out.

Talley meanwhile is a Godolphin-raced Street Cry colt trained by John O’Shea who has his first big city start in the Vase this weekend on the back of an 1850m win at Kyneton over Last Typhoon on October 8.

Also high up the Derby markets and entered to run in the Moonee Valley Vase, which last produced a Derby winner in 2010 with Lion Tamer running second in the lead-up to his Group 1 win for New Zealand’s Murray Baker, are Ragnaar ($15) and Hierarchal ($17).

The Lee & Anthony Freedman-trained Ragnaar comes off a sixth in the Group 3 Caulfield Classic (2000m) from last weekend and so has form over Saturday’s distance while Anthony Cummings’ High Chaparral colt Hierarchal is Group 1 performed having run a brave fourth as a 40/1 outsider in Sydney’s Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) last start at Randwick.

See below for the full Moonee Valley Vase 2015 nominations then visit Ladbrokes.com.au who are also offering an Extra 50% on your very first Fixed Odds winner in Races 1 – 5 at Moonee Valley on Saturday!

2015 Moonee Valley Vase Nominations

Moonee Valley Racecourse – 24/10/2015