The filly dominating early WA Guineas betting is the Fred Kersley-trained Blackwood and she runs this weekend at Ascot Racecourse in the WA Champion Fillies Stakes 2015 in Perth.
Set to run as Ascot Race 5 at 3:20pm (WA time), this year’s $200,000 Group 3 Breast Cancer Care W.A. Champion Fillies Stakes (1600m) features just eight three-year-old fillies facing off in the Perth Summer Racing Carnival lead-up.
Due to jump from barrier three with apprentice Lucy Warwick in the saddle is the sure to be favourite at Ladbrokes.com.au, Kersley’s ultra-consistent daughter of Blackfriars Blackwood.
A winner of five of her six starts to date, her only loss to date was a first-up third to Perfect Reflection in the Listed Belgravia Stakes (1200m) on October 21.
She atoned for that next run returning to the winner’s stall and so goes into Saturday’s Group 3 test on the back of a one and a half-length victory at the track in the Listed Burgess Queen Stakes (1400m).
Blackwood is current top fancy in the pre-field markets for Saturday week’s $500,000 Group 2 W.A. Guineas (1600m) on Railway Stakes Day paying $3.40 to beat home the boys on November 21.
The other two early single figure hopes in the futures WA Guineas odds are fellow fillies Perfect Reflection ($5.50) and Showy Chloe ($6), the first of which takes Blackwood on in the WA Champion Fillies Stakes this weekend.
The undefeated Grant Williams-trained More Than Ready filly has won all three of her career starts to date including the Belgravia Stakes where Blackwood ran third.
Perth’s top hoop William Pike retains the ride on Perfect Reflection this weekend as she steps out over further than 1206m for the first time from the outside barrier eight of eight.
Two other last start winners are also looking to extend winning form with a WA Champion Fillies Stakes win on Saturday with two other Williams-trained stablemates Impassioned and First Impressions who jump from barriers five and one respectively.
A nicely-bred daughter of Redoute’s Choice, Impassioned has won her two lead-up runs with the latest being over 1500m at the Ascot track on November 3.
The step up to a mile for her should be a non-issue, while Rip Van Winkle filly First Impressions also looks like she’ll get the distance off a Bunbury win over 1410m with Saturday her first run in the city.
Williams has a total of four runners in the Group 3 on Saturday giving him a 50% chance of winning, his final starter being the in-form Arcadia Dream in barrier four with Joseph Azzopardi aboard.
She is yet to finish out of the money in her four career starts and was second in the Belgravia Stakes two back before a Burgess Queen Stakes third to her well-credentialed stablemate who she faces again on the weekend.
Rounding out the field are then the Nick Cox-trained Burgess Queen fourth-placed Savabeel filly Spirit Bird, Neville Parnham’s Commands filly Esperanca after her second win at start number 10 and the Daniel Morton-trained War Blossom coming off three straight thirds including two at Ascot where she is yet to post a win from five previous runs.
See below for the full W.A. Champion Fillies Stakes 2015 field, barriers and jockeys then get behind your favourites at Perth this weekend and into the summer online through Ladbrokes.com.au!
2015 WA Champion Fillies Stakes Final Field & Barrier Draw
Ascot Race 5 (3:20pm) – 14/11/2015
# | Form (Last 10) | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Br. | Wgt. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1111×31 | BLACKWOOD | Fred Kersley | Ms Lucy Warwick (a) | 3 | 55.5kg |
2 | 111 | PERFECT REFLECTION | Grant Williams | William Pike | 8 | 55.5kg |
3 | 223×4214 | SPIRIT BIRD (NZ) | Nick Cox | Shaun O’Donnell | 7 | 55.5kg |
4 | 1×123 | ARCADIA DREAM | Grant Williams | Joseph Azzopardi | 4 | 55.5kg |
5 | 5330×35176 | ESPERANCA | Neville Parnham | Steven Parnham | 2 | 55.5kg |
6 | 411 | IMPASSIONED | Grant Williams | Peter Hall | 5 | 55.5kg |
7 | 973×1333 | WAR BLOSSOM | Daniel Morton | Jason Brown | 6 | 55.5kg |
8 | 21 | FIRST IMPRESSIONS (NZ) | Grant Williams | Glenn Smith | 1 | 55.5kg |