David Payne’s last start Gloaming Stakes winner Ace High is the headline three-year-old nominated for the final Group 1 of the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival – the Spring Champion Stakes 2017.

Gloaming Stakes winner Ace High is out to frank the form in Saturday’s 2017 Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick Racecourse. Photo: Steve Hart.

This Saturday Sydney says goodbye to elite level racing in the form of the Group 1 $500,000 Moet & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) for young stayers eyeing a trip south for next month’s Group 1 $1.5 million Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Last season Prized Icon (2016) ran third to the filly Yankee Rose in the Spring Champion Stakes results before taking out the Victoria Derby, while the double was last completed by Monaco Consul (2009).

This season’s Spring Champion Stakes nominations attracted 14 hopefuls with pre-field betting at Ladbrokes.com.au led by High Chaparral colt Ace High ($4.20).

He posted just his second career win at start number 10 on September 23 at Rosehill in the Group 3 Gloaming Stakes (1800m).

Relishing the extra distance, Ace High now looks to complete the Gloaming Stakes – Spring Champion Stakes double for the fourth time since 2012 joining It’s A Dundeel (2012), Complacent (2013) and Vanbrugh (2015).

The two other best out of the Gloaming Stakes are also nominated for a rematch with their last start conqueror in Saturday’s Group 1 with runner-up Sanctioned for Godolphin and the third-placed Coral Coast who is the only filly in the mix.

Sanctioned came off a second to Gold Standard in the Group 2 Stan Fox Stakes (1500m) when runner-up again in the Gloaming Stakes, the James Cummings-trained Teofilo colt looking to break through with his first black-type win.

He is the $5.50 second elect in futures Spring Champion Stakes betting to do so and is joined in the early entries by stablemate Astoria who won Newcastle’s Group 3 Spring Stakes (1600m) before a fifth in the Gloaming Stakes.

Coral Coast is only rated a $17 chance of going back-to-back for the fillies in the Spring Champion Stakes results this season, the Stuart Webb-trained daughter of So you Think beaten five lengths as a $21 outsider in her Gloaming Stakes third.

Trainer Chris Waller prepared the 2015 Spring Champion Stakes winner Vanbrugh and is back in 2017 with a trio of nominees led by Tangled.

The Snitzel colt hasn’t won a race since Doomben’s Group 2 Champagne Classic (1200m) in mid-May, but was far from disgraced crossing under a length away fourth at Randwick last Saturday in the Listed Dulcify Quality (1600m).

Tangled is on the quick back-up and steps-up notably in both class and grade, but will relish the weight relief coming back from 60.5kg on Epsom Handicap Day to 56.5kg at set weights in the Spring Champion Stakes field.

Waller’s other two hopefuls are Dulcify quality third-placed Fastnet Rock colt Sambro and Augustus looking to improve on a lead-up seventh in the Gloaming Stakes.

Check out the full Spring Champion Stakes 2017 nominations below, the final field and updated markets at Ladbrokes.com.au set for release on Wednesday.

2017 Spring Champion Stakes Nominations

Randwick Racecourse – 07/10/2017