A field full of promising young fillies will take to Randwick Racecourse on Australian Derby Day this weekend in the 2013 Adrian Knox Stakes, many of which are using the race as a lead-up to Saturday week’s Australian Oaks.
Campania is one of the 2013 Australian Oaks-bound fillies racing in this Saturday's Adrian Knox Stakes. Photo: Steve Hart.
Set to run as Race 3 at 1:10pm (AEST), this year’s $125,000 Group 3 Adrian Knox Stakes (2000m) has attracted a final field of 15 hopefuls, the event a traditional preparatory run for three-year-old fillies heading into the $550,000 Group 1 ATC Australian Oaks (2400m) at Royal Randwick on April 20.
All but three of the fillies accepted for the Adrian Knox this Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival are still in the mix for the ATC Oaks the following weekend.
The two shortest-priced Adrian Knox hopefuls in the current Australian Oaks odds, which are led by New Zealand Derby winner Habibi ($3.60), are Joe Pride’s Bradbury’s Luck filly Unimpeachable and the Chris Waller-trained Wind Bender who pay $21 and $26 respectively.
Unimpeachable has drawn ideally with barrier four for Saturday, Joshua Parr to ride, the super consistent three-year-old coming off a good second over 1800m at the track on April 1.
Wind Bender meanwhile has drawn wide with gate 13, but the daughter of Redoute’s Choice does get in well in the weights on the 54kg minimum as they look to improve on their last start seventh in the same race Unimpeachable ran second in.
Other notable Australian Oaks entries racing in the weekend’s lead-up and their current Oaks price include the Peter Snowden-trained Sail ($31) set to improve as they step up in distance here, Waller’s other runner Royal Descent ($41) who is the 59kg topweight for the Adrian Knox and who was scratched from the Group 1 Storm Queen Stakes last Saturday, Campania ($51) who ran ninth in the Storm Queen, and recent Keith Nolan Stakes third placed Gold Epona ($61).
Check out the complete Adrian Knox Stakes 2013 field, barriers, jockeys and weights in the table below.
Now is the perfect time to get behind your early Australian Oaks favourites before prices firm with the weekend’s race results.
So head online to bookmaker.com.au now and access the best Australian Oaks odds as well as markets for all the other autumn majors coming up over the coming weeks!
2013 Adrian Knox Stakes Final Field & Barrier Draw
Royal Randwick Race 3 – 1:10pm (AEST) – 13/04/2013
| # | Form (Last 10) | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Br. | Wgt. | Hcp. Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11342 | ROYAL DESCENT | Chris Waller | Nash Rawiller | 6 | 59kg | 81 |
| 2 | x16x311523 | GOLD EPONA | Kris Lees | Hugh Bowman | 12 | 57kg | 77 |
| 3 | 212242 | UNIMPEACHABLE | Joseph Pride | Joshua Parr | 4 | 56kg | 75 |
| 4 | 231×133 | HOLD ME TIGHT | Barry Baldwin | James McDonald | 11 | 55.5kg | 74 |
| 5 | x124611909 | CAMPANIA | Garry Frazer | Jason Collett | 8 | 54.5kg | 72 |
| 6 | 13×921 | QUEENSTOWN | Gai Waterhouse | Tommy Berry | 7 | 54.5kg | 72 |
| 7 | 2117 | SAIL | Peter Snowden | Kerrin McEvoy | 2 | 54kg | 69 |
| 8 | 1231×421 | EXPRESS POWER | Kris Lees | Jim Cassidy | 14 | 54kg | 67 |
| 9 | 33x531x37 | WIND BENDER | Chris Waller | Corey Brown | 13 | 54kg | 67 |
| 10 | 4231 | DIVERTIRE | Guy Walter | Brenton Avdulla | 9 | 54kg | 66 |
| 11 | 35264 | COYOTE MISS | Anthony Cummings | Peter Robl | 5 | 54kg | 65 |
| 12 | 50313 | TORIO’S PRIDE | Gary Portelli | Craig Williams | 1 | 54kg | 63 |
| 13 | 9×5155446 | FOURTRACKS FORKIDS | Craig Carmody | Nathan Berry | 10 | 54kg | 62 |
| 14 | 7842 | REPLY CHURLISH (NZ) | Steve Englebrecht | Glyn Schofield | 3 | 54kg | 56 |
| 15 | 7576×14111 | RED LETTERS | Lex Crosby | Jay Ford | 15 | 54kg | 53 |
