Boom Queenslander Alligator Blood is at short odds to return to winning form second-up in the 2020 Silver Eagle at Royal Randwick this Saturday in Sydney.
Alligator Blood is odds-on favourite to keep his flawless second-up record intact in the Silver Eagle 2020. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.
One of the key support acts on a bumper Spring Champion Stakes Day card, this year’s $500,000 Silver Eagle (1300m) marks just the second edition of the Special Condition feature for four-year-olds.
Won last spring by The Inevitable, there are just eight runners remaining in the Silver Eagle field this season after the early withdrawal of the Godolphin-raced Criaderas (1).
Heading the latest Silver Eagle odds online at $1.80 through Ladbrokes.com.au, the David Vandyke-trained Group 1 winner Alligator Blood comes into barrier five with Ryan Maloney in the saddle once more.
The son of All Too Hard is out to add to his already impressive $1.7 million plus in career earnings and makes his Randwick debut in the event.
Undefeated second-up (3:3-0-0) he presents fit off a resuming third at Doomben over 1100m behind The Odyssey when carrying 61kg.
Alligator Blood, winner of Melbourne’s Group 1 Australian Guineas over the mile at Flemington during the autumn, will be far better suited to the extra metres of the Silver Eagle and comes back to 58.5kg at set weights plus penalties.
“He doesn’t feel as sharp as he was as a three-year-old, but he is still very, very good,” Maloney told The Sydney Morning Herald this week.
“I have doubted him before and have been wrong, so I think he will show you something on Saturday.
“The goal is the Golden Eagle, and I think we are right on track and he will show that at Randwick.”
The danger in the $7.5 million Golden Eagle lead-up race occupying the second line of the markets at $4.80 is the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Dawn Passage drawn the outside alley for jockey Tim Clark.
A winner of three on the trot before a last start seventh in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) in early July, the son of Dawn Approach races fresh this weekend off a three-month break.
Beaten only around two lengths in the Brisbane elite level over the winter, Dawn Passage has been brought-on with two Sydney trials last month and looked the goods winning the latest over 1040m at the Randwick track.
The only other Silver Eagle contender under double-figures to beat the top elect Alligator Blood is Tommy Berry’s mount Subpoenaed ($6) for Sydney’s best Chris Waller.
Waller won the inaugural The Golden Eagle with Kolding, now a top fancy for the Ladbrokes Cox Plate, and hopes to win the stepping-stone into that lucrative feature this weekend with his last start Group 2 Golden Pendant (1400m) winner.
Rip Van Winkle mare Subpoenaed now takes on the boys after that tough victory at Rosehill on September 26, but will need to be improving against some stiff competition.
Click here for the latest Silver Eagle 2020 betting markets courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au.
2020 Silver Eagle Field
| No | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | Probable Weight | Penalty | Hcp Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2x11D110x3 | ALLIGATOR BLOOD | David Vandyke | Ryan Maloney | 5 | 58.5kg | 108 | ||
| 2 | 4x1602x290 | FLIT | James Cummings | Ms Rachel King | 8 | 56.5kg | 106 | ||
| 3 | 56x281117x | DAWN PASSAGE | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Tim Clark | 9 | 56.5kg | 100 | ||
| 4 | 41452138×1 | CHAT | John Thompson | Nash Rawiller | 6 | 56kg | 77 | ||
| 5 | 11×13 | CRIADERAS | James Cummings | James McDonald | 1 | 56kg | 73 | ||
| 6 | 146x18218x | SURREAL STEP | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Kerrin McEvoy | 7 | 56kg | 73 | ||
| 7 | 259243×461 | SUBPOENAED (NZ) | Chris Waller | Tommy Berry | 4 | 55.5kg | 102 | ||
| 8 | 11118×12 | HOW WOMANTIC | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | Jason Collett | 3 | 54.5kg | 90 | ||
| 9 | x11623x242 | ICEBATH (NZ) | Brad Widdup | Regan Bayliss | 2 | 54kg | 76 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
