Sydney’s premier horseman Chris Waller will saddle up five of the 10 final acceptors in the 2020 Premier’s Cup field at Doomben Racecourse in Brisbane this weekend.
Another Dollar is one of five chances for Chris Waller to secure the 2020 Premier’s Cup win at Doomben on Saturday. Photo: Steve Hart.
One of two Group features on the Doomben race card for Saturday as the Queensland Winter Racing Carnival nears its end, the first five runners in the Group 3 $125,000 Premier’s Cup (2200m) hail from the Waller stable.
Two are currently installed as the equal $4.80 co-favourites in Premier’s Cup betting at Ladbrokes.com.au with Another Dollar and Le Juge drawn in barriers three and five respectively.
The duo is also the equal 58kg topweights in the race, but that hasn’t stopped the bookies predicting another Waller quinella.
Nicely-bred Ocean Park mare Another Dollar has plenty of previous Doomben form to draw on (8:1-4-2) as she looks to atone for her last start seventh at Eagle Farm behind stablemate Brimham Rocks in the Group 3 Tattersall’s Cup (2400m) a fortnight back.
Recent winner of Randwick’s Listed Gosford Cup (2000m), Another Dollar also ran third in the Group 3 Chairman’s Handicap (2000m) at Doomben on May 30 and will appreciate coming back from a mile and a half to 2200m on Saturday.
She was 1.35 lengths off the winner in the Chairman’s last month, the race won by Waller’s other leading chance for the rematch on Saturday Le Juge.
Jockey Michael Cahill continues his association with the OTI Racing-owned seven-year-old Le Juge this weekend.
A Doomben specialist, the horse has won five of his nine previous runs at the track and is also a graduate out of the Tattersall’s Cup having run 2.5 lengths back fourth.
Waller’s other Premier’s Cup hopefuls are Chairman’s fourth-placed Alward ($6) drawn the outside barrier, the rails-drawn Kaonic ($7) and the Japanese-bred Satono Rasen ($19).
Waller is after his maiden Premier’s Cup victory and success would see him secure a victory in every key staying race in Queensland.
Satono Rasen is the sole dual acceptor for the Premier’s Cup and Sydney’s Listed WJ McKell Cup, where Waller has a further five final acceptors.
“We have got down pretty well to a fine art and the horses seem to enjoy the trip,” Waller’s Queensland stable manager Paul Shailer told the media this week speaking of the Premier’s Cup horses.
“Chris puts a lot of work into finding the right races and it has been paying off.”
Outside of the Waller runners the other key Premier’s Cup contender this winter is the Michael Costa-trained La Pulga ($5).
The Dream Ahead four-year-old won over the Doomben mile two back in a Benchmark 60 before his credible sixth only 2.4 lengths beaten as a $31 outsider in the Group 3 Eagle Farm Mile (1600m) on June 13.
He comes back a kilo to 54kg on Saturday and has winning form over the 2200m so looks set to handle the sharp rise in distance.
Click here for the latest Premier’s Cup 2020 betting odds at Ladbrokes.com.au.
2020 Premier’s Cup Field & Barriers
| No | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | Probable Weight | Penalty | Hcp Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 93×7903137 | ANOTHER DOLLAR (NZ) | Chris Waller | Luke Dittman | 3 | 58kg | 104 | ||
| 2 | 0420433414 | LE JUGE (IRE) | Chris Waller | Michael Cahill | 5 | 58kg | 100 | ||
| 3 | 311677×574 | ALWARD (IRE) | Chris Waller | Larry Cassidy | 10 | 56.5kg | 97 | ||
| 4 | 09x0225x00 | SATONO RASEN (JPN) | Chris Waller | Jake Bayliss | 4 | 56kg | 96 | ||
| 5 | 0408×06607 | KAONIC (NZ) | Chris Waller | Mark Du Plessis | 1 | 55kg | 94 | ||
| 6 | 600×477407 | SWEET THOMAS (GER) | Matthew Smith | Robbie Fradd | 6 | 54kg | 92 | ||
| 7 | 7133×94249 | FIGHTING TEO | Kevin Kemp | Adin Thompson (a) | 9 | 54kg | 90 | ||
| 8 | 1413×06000 | A MAN TO MATCH | Tony Gollan | Baylee Nothdurft (a) | 8 | 54kg | 89.5 | ||
| 9 | 46×5412116 | LA PULGA | Michael Costa | Jag Guthmann-Chester | 7 | 54kg | 85 | ||
| 10 | 11x244x052 | PICKA PLUM (NZ) | Paul Jenkins | Sean Cormack | 2 | 54kg | 79 |
*Table Credit: Racing Australia.
