2017 Villiers Stakes Nominations Feature Testashadow

December 11, 2017

2017 Villiers Stakes Nominations Feature Testashadow

A host of gun summer milers make up the Villiers Stakes 2017 nominations for the Royal Randwick feature this Saturday including last start Festival Stakes winner Testashadow.

Testashadow

Festival Stakes winner Testashadow is a top chance for the 2017 Villiers Stakes over the Randwick mile on Saturday in Sydney. Photo: Steve Hart.

In total Racing NSW received 18 early entries for this year’s Group 2 $250,000 Villiers Stakes (1600m) including four last start winners looking to keep their end-of-season wins coming.

One of those is the Gary Portelli-trained Testashadow, the six-year-old winning his first race since January’s Magic Millions Cup when narrowly saluting at Rosehill on December 2 in the Group 3 Festival Stakes (1500m).

In recent seasons the Festival Stakes has served as a nice lead-up race to the Villiers Stakes and this year Testashadow will be out to frank the form getting back out to a mile.

The other best out of the Festival Stakes results nominated for a rematch in the Villiers Stakes field on the weekend are the Chris Waller-trained runner-up Mister Sea Wolf and third placegetter Red Excitement for Gerald Ryan.

European import Mister Sea Wolf debuted down under in the Festival Stakes for Waller, of Winx fame, and caught the eye when beaten a nostril flare.

Along with Mister Sea Wolf, Waller has also nominated for the in-form Pins five-year-old Torgerson whose last start produced a second at Doomben in Brisbane behind Crack Me Up on November 25 in the Listed Recognition Stakes (1350m).

The Liam Birchley-trained Queensland raider Crack Me Up also features in the Villiers Stakes nominations for 2017, the progressive Mossman four-year-old to possibly back-up after a narrow fourth in the Listed Brisbane Handicap (1600m) at home last Saturday.

Veteran Excites eight-year-old Red Excitement was also only a quarter length beaten in the blanket finish Festival Stakes, the same result he produced in 2016.

The galloper bypassed last year’s Villiers Stakes and instead was saved for a Boxing Day run in the Group 3 $150,000 Summer Cup (2000m), which he won.

Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott have nominated for last start Goulburn Cup winner Dark Eyes, while the Joe Pride-trained nine-year-old warhorse Destiny’s Kiss was last seen winning the Listed Tattersall’s Cup (2400m) on October 21 at Randwick.

Bott & Waterhouse have two Villiers Stakes nominees also represented by Cabeza De Vaca.

After winning five straight, Northern Meteor six-year-old Cabeza De Vaca had his winning streak ended in the Festival Stakes when running just over three lengths back eighth as the beaten favourite.

The other last start winner in the mix though is the flying Godolphin-raced Interlocuter, the Medaglia D’Oro entire chasing a fourth win on the trot.

Undefeated at Randwick having won back-to-back races in October at the track, the five-year-old was last seen taking out Rosehill’s November Topaz (1900m) on November 18.

Rested since, Interlocuter should be fresh enough for a drop back to a mile this weekend.

Other standout entries include Rob Heathcote’s Brisbane Handicap runner-up from last weekend at Doomben Hopfgarten and the Darren Weir-trained Raw Impulse who ran fourth in the Group 3 Eclipse Stakes (1800m) at Sandown last start.

See below for the full Villiers Stakes 2017 nominations, the final field and barriers followed by updated odds at Ladbrokes.com.au all set for release on Wednesday.

2017 Villiers Stakes Nominations

Randwick Racecourse – 16/12/2017

# Form (Last 10) Horse Sex Age Trainer Hcp. Rating
1 2x2111x118 CABEZA DE VACA G 6 Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott 100
2 x40211x214 CRACK ME UP (NZ) G 4 Liam Birchley 99
3 1105×75361 DARK EYES G 5 Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott 98
4 9763415041 DESTINY’S KISS G 9 Joseph Pride 108
5 6791127434 EMBLEY G 6 Bjorn Baker 98
6 x63773x536 FEDERAL G 6 James Cummings 96
7 73x6276x42 GOD’S IN HIM G 8 Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes 93
8 x2908x1632 HOPFGARTEN G 7 Robert Heathcote 104
9 4x211x2111 INTERLOCUTER (USA) H 5 James Cummings 99
10 864×722744 MIGHTY LUCKY G 8 Fred Cowell 100
11 10x3x128x2 MISTER SEA WOLF (IRE) G 6 Chris Waller 98
12 74134x746x PERIBSEN (IRE) H 5 John O’Shea 71
13 197×887324 RAW IMPULSE (GB) H 6 Darren Weir 94
14 55×4278053 RED EXCITEMENT G 8 Gerald Ryan 106
15 6x3941x065 SALSONIC G 4 Jason Coyle 89
16 7×05148497 SOMEDAY G 9 Desleigh Forster 91
17 1633030×71 TESTASHADOW G 6 Gary Portelli 104
18 45x76x4132 TORGERSEN (NZ) G 5 Chris Waller 91

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