Chris Waller’s veteran nine-year-old Junoob is the highest rated of the Rowley Mile 2016 nominations taken for this Thursday’s Black-Type feature at Hawkesbury Racecourse.

Nominations for the $100,000 Listed Rowley Mile (1600m) were extended by Racing NSW after just 10 early entries were received for the handicap clash.

Of the original nominees, Sydney’s premier trainer Waller boasts four hopes led by Junoob.

The son of Haafhd has had 51 career starts to date including six goes at the 1600m without a top three run over the distance.

A genuine stayer, Junoob hasn’t won over less than 1900m and was last seen running second to Tucanchoo in the Listed Winter Cup (2400m) over the mile and a half at Rosehill on July 2.

Waller’s other entries are Duelled six-year-old Marenostro, lightly-raced import McCreery who is a mile specialist boasting two wins and two seconds from four runs over the distance, and Shamardal mare Sweet Fire.

Marenostro has a stellar record of five wins and a second over the mile and chases his first win since a half-length victory over Oxford Poet in the Listed Winter Challenge (1500m) from late July.

This six-year-old was last seen running third when beaten under two lengths by Allergic just last Saturday over 1800m at Rosehill Gardens.

Last year the John Thompson-trained Dragon Flyer finished runner-up to former Sydney Cup winner The Offer in the Rowley Mile, the now seven-year-old son of Pendragon nominated for another go this week.

The only last-start winner in the mix is the Jason Attard-trained local Oratorio five-year-old Haymate who saluted over the mile at Wyong on a Heavy (8) track on August 5.

The gelding has had four runs at Hawkesbury for a win, a second and a third but hasn’t raced at the course under race conditions since September last year for a narrow win over 1500m from a wide alley (12 of 12).

The Hawkesbury-based Attard has also nominated for his seven-year-old Oratorio mare Kellyville Flyer who has a strong record at the track of two wins, a second and a third from five runs.

She took out a mares-only Benchmark 78 over 1500m at Rosehill in the mud in early June by nearly two lengths and was last seen crossing third behind the French-bred Himalaya Dream over the same track / distance on June 18.

Newcastle’s Kris Lees has nominated for his American-bred import Slow Pace, the nine-year-old not having won since a Group 3 victory in France back in 2013.

The entries are rounded out by Donna Grisedale’s Street Cry gelding Waltzing Willie from Kembla Grange and the Jim Scobie-trained Danzero seven-year-old Zero To Ten from Gundagai.

The official 2016 Rowley Mile field and barriers are due for release on Tuesday at 9:00am (AEST), so make sure you’re ready to back your favourites by signing-up with Ladbrokes.com.au today – home of Odds Boost!

2016 Rowley Mile Nominations

Hawkesbury Racecourse – 18/08/2016  

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Hcp. Rating
1	x63059x334	DRAGON FLYER	G	7	John P Thompson	73
2	24319×5751	HAYMATE	G	5	Jason Attard	62
3	012×046382	JUNOOB (GB)	G	9	Chris Waller	105
4	1322x0013x	KELLYVILLE FLYER	M	7	Jason Attard	82
5	36×1169413	MARENOSTRO (NZ)	G	6	Chris Waller	99
6	x12x21x625	MCCREERY (GB)	G	5	Chris Waller	83
7	00x5339x67	SLOW PACE (USA)	G	9	Kris Lees	83
8	x661663x88	SWEET FIRE	M	5	Chris Waller	86
9	142790×535	WALTZING WILLIE	G	5	Donna Grisedale	65
10	010×004019	ZERO TO TEN	G	7	Jim Scobie	65