The Queen Of The Turf Stakes odds on the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Prompt Response have been slashed in half after her terrific win in the Emancipation Stakes 2018 on Easter Saturday at Rosehill.

2018 Emancipation Stakes winner Prompt Response is onto the Queen Of The Turf Stakes for Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott. Photo: Steve Hart.
In an open field of fillies and mares, Prompt Response lined-up in the Group 2 $200,000 Emancipation Stakes (1500m) four runs into her Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival campaign.
Backing-up from a fifth when under a length beaten in the Group 1 Coolmore Classic (1500m), she franked that form and turned the tables on a number that finished ahead of her in the rematch back at Rosehill Gardens.
“She’s a very honest mare,” Waterhouse, who made it a double after the earlier win by Doncaster Mile-bound Arbeitsam, said post-win.
“She’s a quality mare down to her tippy toes and at this level she’s incredibly hard to beat.”
Ridden by Damien Oliver, who made it three Emancipation Stakes wins after his earlier victories on Kosi Bay (2008) and Amberino (2009), Prompt Response was always in the right spot for her in the run sitting second on the outside of the Ron Quinton-trained leader Daysee Doom.
“We were going really slow,” Oliver said post-win.
“She was comfortable there. Knowing this filly she’s got a great turn of foot, especially off a slow pace, and I thought she was going to be pretty hard to run down from where she was.
“She’s very brave…she did a great job to really fight them off.”
Quinton, who rode the race’s namesake Emancipation for all but one of her wins as a jockey, had the runner-up Daysee Doom and third placegetter Dixie Blossoms from last year’s race in the mix.
After winning the Millie Fox Stakes and Coolmore Classic this time in, Daysee Doom was the favourite trying to lead all-the-way, while Dixie Blossoms got right back to settle last.
Travelling nicely in third then fourth, wide on the outside of Foxplay, was the Mick Price-trained Coolmore Classic runner-up Oregon’s Day going up notably in the weights but switched off well.
Daysee Doom was held together around the turn and was fighting on the home straight, but eventually headed by Oregon’s Day and Prompt Response.
In a busy finish, Prompt Response ($5.50) just held off a terrific Oregon’s Day ($9) in a gutsy result as Dixie Blossoms ($4) rounded out the Emancipation Stakes trifecta for the second year in a row making up all the ground out wide late from the back.
Waterhouse confirmed plans to now head to Royal Randwick in a fortnight on Day 2 of ‘The Championships’, April 14, with Prompt Response to tackle the Group 1 $1 million Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) run this year as the Coolmore Legacy Stakes.
Two of the past four Queen Of The Turf Stakes winners came off a lead-up run in the Emancipation Stakes with Diamond Drille (4th in 2014) and Amanpour (2nd in 2015).
Waterhouse meanwhile has prepared an incredible eight previous winners of the race, Prompt Response firming in from $15 to $7.50 in the pre-field Queen Of The Turf Stakes odds at Ladbrokes.com.au.
To back Waterhouse to win a ninth Queen Of The Turf Stakes with this year’s Emancipation Stakes winner Prompt Response at the right price visit Ladbrokes.com.au.
2018 Emancipation Stakes Results & Finishing Order
Rosehill Race 4 – 31/03/2018
Place | # | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Br. | Weight | SP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | PROMPT RESPONSE | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Damien Oliver | – | 3 | 57kg | $5 |
2 | 8 | OREGON’S DAY | Mick Price | Michael Dee | 0.2L | 2 | 55kg | $9 |
3 | 3 | DIXIE BLOSSOMS | Ron Quinton | Corey Brown | 0.5L | 7 | 57kg | $4 |
4 | 2 | FOXPLAY | Chris Waller | Kerrin McEvoy | 0.6L | 4 | 58kg | $6 |
5 | 1 | DAYSEE DOOM | Ron Quinton | Andrew Adkins | 0.7L | 1 | 58kg | $3.70F |
6 | 7 | ECKSTEIN | Kurt Goldman | Brenton Avdulla | 0.8L | 6 | 55kg | $7 |
7 | 5 | ZANBAGH | John P Thompson | Mark Zahra | 1.7L | 5 | 57kg | $31 |
– | 9 | SLIGHTLY SWEET | Jason Coyle | Ms Jess Taylor | – | 0 | – | – |
– | 6 | ALIZEE | James Cummings | Tye Angland | – | 0 | – | – |