The William Reid Stakes 2017 is the feature race held at Moonee Valley Racecourse tonight, a detailed form guide analysis and betting preview on the weight-for-age sprint found below.

Flamberge is back to defend his title in the 2017 William Reid Stakes field on Friday night. Photo: Jenny Barnes.

There are twelve hopefuls left in the mix for the $500,000 Group 1 William Reid Stakes (1200m), which is set to run as Moonee Valley Race 7 at 9:30pm (AEDT).

The Team Hawkes-trained three-year-old Star Turn heads the latest William Reid Stakes odds online at Ladbrokes.com.au paying $4.60 for the win after drawing well in gate three.

He comes off two thirds in Group 1 Flemington autumn carnival features including the Newmarket Handicap beaten only two lengths last time out and is in flying form ahead of his maiden Moonee Valley run.

Other key contenders in William Reid Stakes betting include the Lindsay Park-trained Oakleigh Plate winning mare Sheidel ($5), the ultra-consistent market mover Silent Sedition ($6.50) coming back in distance off a Coolmore Classic second over 1500m in Sydney and Darren Weir’s progressive four-year-old Hellbent ($7).

Below we take a look at the complete William Reid Stakes 2017 form guide, betting history and statistics to uncover any value in the markets for the last of the Melbourne Autumn Racing Carnival Group 1 races.

2017 William Reid Stakes Form Facts & Betting Stats

• Last year’s William Reid Stakes winner was the Peter Moody-trained Flamberge (2016) who came off a win in the Oakleigh Plate and jumped from barrier 2 (of 12) with Brad Rawiller riding the $12 shot to victory
• #2 Flamberge ($15) returns chasing back-to-back William Reid Stakes wins for the first time since Apache Cat (2008-09) now under the training of Darren Weir; Black Caviar also won two editions on non-successive years since then in 2011 and 2013
• Darren Weir (3-1-0-0) prepared Lucky Hussler for his 2015 William Reid Stakes win and along with the defending champion #2 Flamberge is also after a second win with #10 Hellbent ($7)
• Along with Weir the other previous William Reid Stakes winning trainers with a starter tonight are: John Hawkes (14-3-1-2) with #9 Kaepernick ($17) and #13 Star Turn ($4.60); and David Hayes (15-1-1-1) with #11 Silent Sedition ($6.50)
• Last year’s winning jockey Brad Rawiller is back aboard the reigning champ #2 Flamberge chasing successive William Reid Stakes wins by a hoop for the first time since Steven Arnold (2001-02)
• The only other previous William Reid Stakes winning jockey with a ride this year is Damien Oliver (18-1-4-1) on #8 Illustrious Lad ($13)
• Last year’s winning barrier (2) produced back-to-back winners with Lucky Hussler (2015) also jumping from the gate giving the draw a total of four wins since 1983
• This year #4 Japonisme ($18) is out to make it three straight William Reid Stakes winners from barrier 2

• The most successful William Reid Stakes barrier (since 1983) with seven wins is gate 1 drawn this year by #2 Flamberge 
• #11 Sheidel ($5) chases the Oakleigh Plate – William Reid Stakes double, but ran fourth in the Newmarket Handicap in the meantime
• Three of the past six William Reid Stakes winners came out of the Newmarket Handicap with: Black Caviar (1^st in 2011), Foxwedge (3^rd in 2012) and Spirit Of Boom (2^nd in 2014)
• #13 Star Turn (3^rd) is the only Newmarket Handicap placegetter running in the William Reid Stakes field this autumn

• Two of the past seven William Reid Stakes champions won first-up; the resuming runners in the field this season are #1 Rebel Dane and #6 Rock Magic
• #13 Star Turn is out to be just the second three-year-old since 2006 joining Foxwedge (2012) to win the William Reid Stakes
• Five-year-olds and six-year-olds have both won four of the past 10 editions of the race; horses of that age this year are: #3 The Quarterback (6YO), #5 Hooked (6YO), #8 Illustrious Lad (5YO), #9 Kaepernick (5YO) and #11 Sheidel (5YO)
• #11 Sheidel along with #12 Silent Sedition are out to be the first William Reid Stakes winning mare since Black Caviar (2011 & 2013)
• Four William Reid Stakes favourites have saluted in the past 10 years, most recently Black Caviar (2013); #13 Star Turn heads the William Reid Stakes odds this year
• The highest Win Rate of the field belongs to #11 Sheidel (54%) followed by #10 Hellbent (40%)
• The best Place Rate of the field belongs to #12 Silent Sedition (93%) followed by #13 Star Turn (82%)
• The previous winners at the Moonee Valley track are: #1 Rebel Dane (7-1-0-3), #2 Flamberge (5-1-2-1), #5 Hooked (2-1-0-0) and #9 Kaepernick (1-1-0-0)
• The horses with the best form over the distance (1200m) are: #2 Flamberge (16-6-1-1), #8 Illustrious Lad (10-4-2-0), #11 Sheidel (9-4-2-0), #1 Rebel Dane (20-4-3-4), #3 The Quarterback (14-4-1-3), #4 Japonisme (12-3-0-5), #9 Kaepernick (10-3-3-1), #6 Rock Magic (11-2-2-2) and #12 Silent Sedition (4-1-3-0)

Stay tuned for our insider William Reid Stakes 2017 tips checking out the full race form guide below in the meantime provided by Ladbrokes.com.au.