This Saturday Brisbane’s Eagle Farm Racecourse is set to host Queensland’s latest Group race meeting with a cracker eight-event card headlined by the $200,000 Group 3 George Moore Stakes (1200m).
The 2010 George Moore Stakes final field features a capacity of 17 sprinters, plus one emergency, with the most notable defector from the nominations being defending champ Burdekin Blues.
Connections including trainer Barry Baldwin decided to bypass the George Moore on Saturday, stating that the six-year-old was not ready for the 1200m showdown as their first-up assignment after undergoing knee surgery.
One of the early favourites in the George More Stakes field is sure to be Falco Star, the last start winner of the Keith Noud Quality (1200m) at Doomben on November 20.
Drawn well in barrier six, the Liam Birchley-trained Falco Star ran a gallant fourth to Temple of Boom first up for the season in the Listed Swisse Vitamins Stakes (100m) at Flemington’s Crown Oaks Day in early November before their Keith Noud victory, and with 53.5kg on their back this Saturday is an ideal lightweight chance.
The horse that beat Falco Star in the Swisse Vitamins, Temple Of Boom, is also among the George Moore Stakes field and has genuine claims.
Trained up in Toowoomba by Tony Gollan, four-year-old Temple Of Boom won a Class 6 handicap in Eagle Farm in October leading connections to head down to Victoria for the Melbourne Cup Carnival that produced the black-type win.
On Saturday Temple Of Boom will jump from barrier 12, which is no issue as they have won their last two starts from a wide gate 14.
Leading Gold Coast trainer Gillian Heinrich has two of her stable stars running in this year’s George Moore with seven-year-old Ghetto Blaster in barrier five and eight-year-old Rasmussen out wide in gate 13.
More Than Ready four-year-old and 2009 Golden Slipper winner Phelan Ready will attempt to return to form with the addition of blinkers on Saturday, after not having won a race since their Slipper success in April last year.
Phelan Ready received a boost drawing on the rails with barrier one and will be ridden by Michael Cahill.
Another live chance is the Robert Heathcote-trained Easy Rocking mare Funtantes.
Four-year-old Funtantes has been in good form of late, most recently running a gallant second to Falco Star in the Keith Noud and has drawn well with barrier four, set to be ridden by Jim Byrne.
The 2010 George Moree Stakes is scheduled to run as Race 7 at Eagle Farm on Saturday, due to jump at 5:25pm (AEDST).
Betting odds will open on the race at Luxbet shortly, so get ready to lock in your favourites at the best price by opening an account with Luxbet now!
2010 George Moore Stakes Final Field & Barrier Draw
| No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | THE JACKAL | Paul St Vincent | Shane Scriven | 7 | 58.5 |
| 2 | PHELAN READY | Jason McLachlan | Michael Cahill | 1 | 58 |
| 3 | GHETTO BLASTER | Gillian Heinrich | Damian Browne | 5 | 57 |
| 4 | FORESTRENO | Vicki McLeod | Glen Colless | 10 | 56.5 |
| 5 | WELKOM GOLD | Darren Smith | Chris Munce | 8 | 55.5 |
| 6 | TEMPLE OF BOOM | Tony Gollan | Corey Brown | 12 | 55 |
| 7 | RASMUSSEN | Gillian Heinrich | Joe Bowditch | 13 | 54.5 |
| 8 | HEART OF THE CITI | Pat Duff | – | 14 | 54 |
| 9 | OLLIE VOLLIE | Sue Grills | Timothy Bell (a) | 15 | 54 |
| 10 | FALCO STAR | Liam Birchley | Paul Hammersley | 6 | 53.5 |
| 11 | THE SIXTIES | Tracy Green | Mitchell Wood (a) | 17 | 53 |
| 12 | FUNTANTES | Robert Heathcote | Jim Byrne | 4 | 53 |
| 13 | RARE DIAMOND | Gordon Yorke | Stephen Traecey | 9 | 53 |
| 14 | ULLADULLA | Kelly Schweida | Eddie Wilkinson | 18 | 53 |
| 15 | DEER VALLEY | Steele Ryan | Larry Cassidy | 11 | 53 |
| 16 | BLAZING HEARTS | Danny J Bougoure | Bobby El-Issa | 16 | 53 |
| 17 | EIRE OF MAGIC | David Kelly | – | 2 | 53 |
| 18e | TOUR GUIDE | Danny J Bougoure | Ryan Wiggins | 3 | 53 |
