Returning New Zealander Xtravagant has opened narrow favourite to win first-up at Flemington in the Bobbie Lewis Quality 2016 in Melbourne this Saturday.
New Zealand raider Xtravagant is early favourite in 2016 Bobbie Lewis Quality betting at Flemington Racecourse this weekend in Melbourne. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.
Makybe Diva Stakes Day continues the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival action on the weekend with the meeting featuring four Group races including the $200,000 Group 2 Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m).
The handicap sprint runs as Flemington Race 6 at 3:30pm (AEST) on the bumper nine-race card and has attracted a final field of 12 runners.
Two of those are battling for favouritism in the Bobbie Lewis Quality odds at Ladbrokes.com.au, which are currently led by Xtravagant.
Prepared at Matamata by Stephen Autridge & Jamie Richards, the Pentire stallion makes his four-year-old debut on the weekend from barrier seven carrying 57.5kg.
He is at $4 for the win with Damien Oliver booked for the ride, Xtravagant last seen posting his sixth win from 10 career runs back in NZ in the Group 3 Breeders Stakes (1200m).
A dual Group 1 winner at home, most recently in the NRM Sprint in mid-February, the galloper is also no stranger to Flemington having run a disappointing eighth to Palentino at the track in the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) as the beaten favourite in the autumn.
Hot on his heels in Bobbie Lewis Quality betting at $4.60 is the 59kg top weight Under The Louvre out wide in barrier 10 for his hoop Dwayne Dunn.
Dunn is back aboard the Robert Smerdon-trained Excellent Art stallion for the first time since his Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) win on June 11 in Brisbane.
Under The Louvre returned with Nicholas Hall aboard on 59kg at Caulfield a fortnight back for a brave second in the Group 3 The Heath (1100m), which he can improve on second-up over the extra metres this Saturday.
The horse’s last look at the 1200m produced a close second when under a length off Black Heart Bart in the Group 1 The Goodwood in Adelaide on May 21, the same horse he subsequently beat home in The Stradbrokes.
Black Heart Bart has since franked that form with a first-up win in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) and is clear favourite to win again on Saturday in the $500,000 Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m).
A further two sprinters are under double-figures to take out the Bobbie Lewis this spring with Kinglike ($5) and the early market mover Santa Ana Lane ($7.50) drawn well in barriers five and one respectively.
Gerald Ryan saddles-up Exceed And Excel four-year-old Kinglike whose last run produced a fourth to Japonisme in the Group 2 Arrowfield 3YO Stakes (1200m) during Sydney’s ‘The Championships’.
He won the Group 2 Danehill Stakes (1200m) at this track and distance on this day 12 months ago and is perfectly weighted on the 53kg minimum with the in-form Chris Parnham in the saddle.
Santa Anna Lane is also drawn for a gun run on the 53kg light weigh, the Lee & Anthony Freedman-trained Lope De Vega gelding second-up off a third in The Heath under 57.5kg.
See below for the full Bobbie Lewis Quality 2016 field, barriers, jockeys, weights and latest Fixed Win betting prices provided by our preferred online sportsbook Ladbrokes.com.au.
