Ocean Embers Heads 2016 Cockram Stakes Field & Odds

Shea Eden’s in-form mare Ocean Embers has opened favourite to win the Cockram Stakes 2016 at Caulfield Racecourse this weekend in Melbourne.

Ocean Embers is early favourite to win Saturday’s 2016 Ladbrokes Cockram Stakes at Caulfield Racecourse. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

Early on Wednesday morning a final field of 16 mares were accepted for the last on Memsie Stakes Day, the $150,000 Group 3 Ladbrokes Cockram Stakes (1200m) closing the Saturday card as Caulfield Race 9 at 5:20pm (AEST).

The early scratching of the widely-drawn Make Her Own Whey (14) however leaves 15 in the mix including Ocean Embers who has the outside barrier to overcome in the set weights plus penalties sprint.

Despite the horror alley, the bookmakers are taking no chances with the lightly-raced daughter of Beneteau who is the current $4.80 favourite in Cockram Stakes betting at the race sponsor Ladbrokes.com.au.

Dwayne Dunn rides the four-year-old who has won three of her six career starts to date, including an 1100m mares-only handicap at the track on August 13.

She rises from 52.5kg that day to 55kg on the weekend, but is still the one to beat according to the bookies as she is undefeated at the track and is also Black-Type placed.

Currently just three other runners are under $10 in the Cockram Stakes odds to win the last on Saturday including the early market mover Don’t Doubt Mamma ($8 into $7).

Tony McEvoy trains the four-year-old daughter of Not A Single Doubt whose last win was in Adelaide’s Listed Redelva Stakes (1100m) in Adelaide.

She backed up from that and finished 15^th in the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) in May, an unplaced effort she’s out to atone for first-up in the weekend as she races in Melbourne for the first time since her second to Badawiya in Flemington’s Group 2 Kewney Stakes (1400m).

Third favourite out from $7 to $7.50 is the super-consistent Telopea, drawn to get a gun run from barrier two with Damien Oliver aboard.

Darren Weir prepares the Piovtal six-year-old who is still lightly-raced for her age having won six of her 13 starts to date.

Her latest win was over the 1400m at Flemington in the Leilani Final from early July, but she has had just the one run Caulfield when fourth to Mefnooda in April.

The last of the single figure fancies at $9.50 is Mossin’ Around drawn barrier 11 for jockey Nicholas Hall.

The Grahame Begg-trained four-year-old ran sixth to Cockram Stakes favourite Ocean Embers in the mares lead-up a fortnight back at the track, and is another Kewney Stakes graduate from the autumn having run fifth in the Group 2.

That followed a string of impressive Melbourne runs including her second in the Group 2 Angus Aarmanaso Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Blue Diamond Stakes Day in late February.

She has finished second in three of her Caulfield assignments and will appreciate getting back out to 1200m on the weekend having a strong record over the distance (3-1-2-0).

The best of the double figure hopes representing the value include Group 3 winner Thames Court ($11) who is undefeated over the distance, the returning Lindsay Park-raced track specialist Kayjay’s Joy ($12) who loves the Caulfield course (5-3-0-1) and Al Maher five-year-old A Lotta Love ($13).

See below for the full Cockram Stakes 2016 field, barriers, jockeys and latest Fixed Win odds provided by Ladbrokes.com.au.