Randwick Guineas winner Kementari has retained favourtism for the 2019 Group 1 $500,000 Ladbrokes C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday after drawing barrier two in the capacity sixteen field.

Kementari had been at the top of the pre-post betting at Ladbrokes.com.au for the first Group 1 race for 2019 and after the barrier draw is the $3.30 top pick ahead of the two Darren Weir cast offs, Land Of Plenty at $5.50 and Whispering Brook at $6.50.

Trainer James Cummings is expecting a forward showing from Kementari who will be stepping out on race day for the first time since running ninth in the Group 1 $1m VRC Sprint Classic (1200m) at Flemington on the last day of the four day 2018 Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Kementari finished second in a recent 900m barrier trial at Randwick and Cummings said that hit out has tuned him up nicely for his return to the race track.

“This is a beautiful target first up and it’s easy to imagine him being highly competitive,” Cummings said.

“He’s enjoyed a very straightforward preliminary preparation, and he was able to hone in on the leader in his barrier trial.”

James McDonald takes the ride on Kementari while Craig Williams will ride Cummings’ other runner Best Of Days who also drew favourably at barrier four.

Sydney’s leading trainer Chris Waller will saddle up two runners in the C.F. Orr Stakes with mixed results at the barrier draw.

Rosehill Guineas winner D’Argento drew the rails with Kerrin McEvoy booked to ride while Group 1 winning mare Shillelagh drew out wide at fourteen for Ben Melham.

Caulfield trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace will also have two runners with recent stable acquisition Land Of Plenty drawing awkwardly at eleven with Damian Lane in the saddle while Jordan Childs takes the mount on Mask Of Time who has drawn a nice gate at five.

The Lindsay Park Team of David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig will saddle up three runners in the C.F. Orr Stakes, Redkirk Warrior (Regan Bayliss, barrier 10), So Si Bon (Luke Nolen, barrier 15) and Fifty Stars (Ben Allen, barrier 9).

Western Australian trainer Simon Miller finds himself as the trainer of Whispering Brook again following the disqualification of Victoria’s leading trainer Darren Weir and the high class mare has drawn in the middle at barrier eight for Mark Zahra.

Whispering Brook completed a hat trick of wins for Weir with a last start victory in the Group 2 $200,000 Australia Stakes (1200m) at The Valley on January 25.

Final field for the 2019 C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m)

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Hcp Rating
1	0x332818x9	BRAVE SMASH (JPN)	Kris Lees	Michael Walker	7	59kg	113
2	x11x00x0x5	REDKIRK WARRIOR (GB)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Regan Bayliss	10	59kg	116
3	0x598x5132	FELL SWOOP	Matthew Dale	Damien Oliver	13	59kg	106
4	30x242439x	KEMENTARI	James Cummings	James McDonald	2	59kg	110
5	21x111x32x	MATERIAL MAN	Justin Warwick	Ms Lucy Warwick	6	59kg	110
6	714x32256x	D’ARGENTO	Chris Waller	Kerrin McEvoy	1	59kg	107
7	11x21314x3	LAND OF PLENTY	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Damian Lane	11	59kg	110
8	38x713211x	BEST OF DAYS (GB)	James Cummings	Craig Williams	4	59kg	108
9	716243111x	MOSS ’N’ DALE (NZ)	Peter Gelagotis	Jack Martin (a)	12	59kg	108
10	93×5386412	SO SI BON	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Luke Nolen	15	59kg	98
11	1x361221x7	MANUEL	Tony McEvoy	Luke Currie	3	59kg	95
12	479741240x	MASK OF TIME (IRE)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jordan Childs	5	59kg	97
13	x316936420	HOLBIEN	Steve Richards	Patrick Moloney	16	59kg	86
14	111x2211x6	FIFTY STARS (IRE)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Ben Allen (a)	9	58.5kg	98
15	462x44415x	SHILLELAGH (NZ)	Chris Waller	Ben Melham	14	57kg	110
16	0x1415x111	WHISPERING BROOK	Simon A Miller	Mark Zahra	8	57kg	109