This Saturday Sydney’s final Group 1 race meeting of the spring will take place at Royal Randwick, with the day’s major support race being the Angst Stakes 2013.

Sharnee Rose looks the one to beat in Saturday's Angst Stakes. Photo: Steve Hart.

One of only two Group races on the program along with the $400,000 Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) for three-year-olds, this year’s $125,000 Group 3 McGrath Estate Agents Angst Stakes (1600m) is scheduled to bring things to a close as Randwick Race 8 at 5:20pm (AEST).

Open to mares only the mile showdown has drawn a final field of 15 hopefuls, the top-rated of which is the Kris Lees-trained Sharnee Rose.

Drawn to perfection in barrier three with Brenton Avdulla riding, the Nadeem five-year-old improved on a distant 10^th at Newcastle in the Tibbie Stakes to take out the Group 3 Golden Pendant (1400m) at Rosehill last start on September 28.

There she defeated Chris Waller’s Group 1 winner Red Tracer (2^nd), as well as Bennetta (3^rd) and multiple elite level champion Appearance (4^th), so Sharnee Rose definitely looks the mare to beat here.

Lees will also saddle-up another in-form chance in Gold Epona (barrier seven), who comes off a second in the Group 3 Tibbie Stakes (1400m) behind Vaquera from September 19.

There are then two other last start winners along with Sharnee Rose looking to make it two on the trot in the Angst Stakes with the John O’Shea-trained Lucky Lago who won over the Warwick Farm mile a fortnight ago and Aliyana, another Warwick Farm mile winner from September 29, out in gate 13.

Other notable hopes coming off some good lead-up form include the Gai Waterhouse-trained Stratum four-year-old Queenstown who was runner-up to Lucky Lago last start, their lightly-raced stablmate Porcellanus in the outside draw, and Chris Waller’s Fastnet Rock four-year-old Jade Marauder.

Of the two Waterhouse hopes, Queenstown is the better fancied having won three of her nine career starts.

She was considered for an ATC Oaks bid during the autumn but failed to make the grade running a disappointing eighth in the Adrian Knox Stakes in the lead-up.

Last start she did well to finish as close as she did after blundering the jump, Waterhouse’s stable foreman Mark Newnham hoping she’ll be better away this weekend.

“It was just unfortunate her back legs went from underneath her just as she was coming out,” he told sportsnews.com.au.

Newnham is also confident High Chaparral mare Porcellanus has improvement on her first-up fifth at Canterbury which was the four-year-olds maiden run since a distant 14^th when tested at Group 1 level for the Queensland Oaks (2400m) in June.

“We probably threw her into the deep end in the Queensland Oaks but with fillies you don’t get many chances,” he said.

“But looking at it the trip up there probably seasoned her up a bit.”

See below for the full Angst Stakes 2013 final field and barrier draw.

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2013 Angst Stakes Final Field & Barrier Draw

Randwick Race 8 – 5:20pm (AEST) – 12/10/2013