The next big meeting of the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival takes place this Saturday February 12 at the Royal Randwick with the headline event being the $200,000 Group 2 Light Fingers Stakes (1200m).
More Strawberries has made the final field for the 2011 Light Fingers Stakes
Waterhouse won the Light Fingers Stakes 12 months ago with glamour mare More Joyous and is back on Saturday with the classy More Strawberries first-up for the season.
In a strong spring campaign for the daughter of More Than Ready, More Strawberries broke her maiden status winning the Group 2 Furious Stakes (1400m) and then the Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes (1500m) consecutively.
She also managed to finish second in the Group 1 Coolmore Flight Stakes, beaten a short-head by Secret Admirer.
In her Melbourne debut More Strawberries finished 4 ½ lengths away sixth in the Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) and will have improved from the run.
Back-to-back barrier trial wins during January show More Strawberries to be in great form and with regular ridder Nash Rawiller in the mount for the Light Fingers she should start the favourite at Luxbet.
The filly that beat More Strawberries in the Coolmore Flight Stakes last season, Grahame Begg’s Secret Admirer has also been accepted for the Light Fingers Stakes drawing ideally in barrier two.
The Dubawi three-year-old is also first-up for the season but didn’t show as much form in her trial on January 27 finishing sixth in the Randwick run.
Still, becoming a Group 1 winner at just her fourth career start showed talent and connections are tipping Secret Admirer to add another elite level title to her name during the autumn.
Other notable fillies that will give More Strawberries a run for her money on Saturday include the Peter Snowden-trained stablemates Parables and Obsequious drawn at opposite ends of the field in barriers 11 and one respectively.
Parables ran third behind Secret Admirer and More Strawberries in the Coolmore Flight Stakes last start, before which the daughter of Lonhro enjoyed three top three finishes at Group level and looks a brilliant pick for the exotics on Saturday.
Obsequious is another talented Lonhro filly with a Group victory to her name having won the San Domenico Stakes in August of last year.
The 2011 Patinack Farm Light Fingers Stakes is scheduled as Randwick Race 6 on Saturday with odds on the day’s events set to open at Luxbet shortly.
Make sure when you win off the races this weekend you win more by avoiding the TAB and their inferior odds and signing up with online bookmaker Luxbet today!
2011 Light Fingers Stakes Field, Barriers & Weights
| # | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight (kg) | Hcp. Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SECRET ADMIRER | Grahame Begg | Brenton Avdulla | 2 | 56 | 99 |
| 2 | MORE STRAWBERRIES | Gai Waterhouse | Nash Rawiller | 6 | 56 | 98 |
| 3 | PARABLES | Peter Snowden | Joshua Parr | 11 | 56 | 94 |
| 4 | OBSEQUIOUS | Peter Snowden | Kerrin McEvoy | 1 | 56 | 92 |
| 5 | PARRIWI | Kris Lees | Hugh Bowman | 4 | 56 | 80 |
| 6 | RED TRACER | Chris Waller | Glyn Schofield | 3 | 56 | 78 |
| 7 | M’LADY PEDRILLE | Ron Quinton | Tim Clark | 5 | 56 | 75 |
| 8 | SLOW THE FLOW | Matthew Smith | Jim Cassidy | 9 | 56 | 75 |
| 9 | POSH CHIC | Kevin Moses | Tommy Berry (a) | 7 | 56 | 73 |
| 10 | WHO’S READY | Alan Scorse | Chris O’Brien | 10 | 56 | 73 |
| 11 | POTIONS | John P Thompson | Jim Byrne | 8 | 56 | – |
Photo courtesy (c) Steve Hart Photographics
