The spring’s Cox Plate hero, Anamoe, is the horse to beat in Saturday’s Chipping Norton Stakes 2023 with the Godolphin gun odds-on to add another Group 1 title to his growing record.

A dozen weight-for-age autumn hopefuls face off in this year’s Group 1 $600,000 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) which is one of two elite level features taking place at Royal Randwick this weekend.

The James Cummings-trained favourite Anamoe drew a treat in barrier three for ace hoop James McDonald.

The four-year-old son of Street Boss is after his eighth Group 1 success and his first since the Cox Plate at The Valley last October.

Fresh he was too good for his rivals in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes (1400m) at the Randwick track with J. Mac guiding the gun stallion to a perfectly timed victory.

McDonald has an excellent record in the Chipping Norton Stakes having ridden three previous winners to victory with success aboard Contributer (2015) for John O’Shea before his back-to-back wins on class mare Verry Elleegant (2021-22).

The Apollo Stakes – Chipping Norton Stakes double has been achieved plenty of times in recent years most recently by the aforementioned Contributer (2015) followed by the mighty Winx (2016, 2017 & 2019).

The latest Chipping Norton Stakes odds online at Ladbrokes.com.au have Anamoe at a short $1.70 to be the next.

Two of the main dangers come from the Chris Waller stable with Apollo Stakes placed mares Hinged ($11) and Fangirl ($8) looking to turn the tables.

Waller has an absolutely sensational record in the Chipping Norton Stakes having won the race an imposing 10 times in the past 12 years.

His Group 1 winning mares Hinged and Fangirl ran second and third respectively when running fresh in the Apollo Stakes last time out.

They are second-up in the Chipping Norton this weekend drawn barriers four and one respectively with Kerrin McEvoy on Fangirl and Brenton Avdulla riding Hinged.

Waller also saddles-up his Irish-bred Kodiac entire El Bodegon ($17) in the Chipping Norton Stakes field.

The imported Cox Plate third place-getter kicked off his autumn racing in Australia for just the second time in the Apollo Stakes running ninth.

The only other single-figure fancy in Chipping Norton Stakes betting is Annabel Neasham’s early market mover Mo’unga ($13 into $9) jumping from out wider in gate 11 with Hugh Bowman aboard.

Bowman is a seven-time Chipping Norton Stakes winning hoop with all of his victories having been aboard Waller-trained runners.

He gets the chance to add another trophy to the cabinet and win the race for a second trainer when replacing Nash Rawiller in the saddle of Savabeel five-year-old Mo’unga.

It has been a long time between drinks for the horse who hasn’t won since defeating subsequent Melbourne Cup winner Verry Elleegant in the 2021 Winx Stakes.

He has been competitive at the highest level in plenty since however with a host of Group 1 placings and was strong fresh under two lengths back fifth in the Apollo.

Neasham has also accepted for her Power stallion Laws Of Indices ($20).

The horse, who is out to break his Randwick hoodoo having had five previous starts at the track without a top three run, was strong in the spring.

Most recently he ran third in Rosehill’s $2 million The Five Diamonds before heading to Sha Tin in December when third in the Group 1 Hong Kong Mile (1600m).

An Apollo Stakes sixth saw him race back down under for the first time since his strong international performance, and he is sure to take improvement off that getting up to a mile in the Chipping Norton.

The 2023 Chipping Norton Stakes is scheduled to run as Randwick Race 8 at 4:40pm (AEDT).

Click here for the latest markets on the race courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au.

2023 Chipping Norton Stakes Final Field & Barrier Draw   

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	19x11114x1	ANAMOE	James Cummings	James McDonald	3	59kg			120
2	6x032852x5	MO’UNGA (NZ)	Annabel Neasham	Hugh Bowman	11	59kg			112
3	521x13439x	KNIGHTS ORDER (IRE)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Tim Clark	7	59kg			111
4	11x3418x8x	HUETOR (FR)	Peter & Paul Snowden	William Pike	9	59kg			108
5	09x42833x6	LAWS OF INDICES (IRE)	Annabel Neasham	Ryan Maloney	6	59kg			108
6	x9644188x0	STOCKMAN (NZ)	Joseph Pride	Sam Clipperton	10	59kg			107
7	17123820×7	ARAPAHO (FR)	Bjorn Baker	Ms Rachel King	2	59kg			103
8	542x64260x	BENAUD	John O’Shea	Chad Schofield	5	59kg			102
9	1x7233x3x9	EL BODEGON (IRE)	Chris Waller	Regan Bayliss	12	58.5kg			113
10	x718x4340x	MONTEFILIA	David Payne	Dylan Gibbons (a)	8	57kg			114
11	410x2562x3	FANGIRL	Chris Waller	Kerrin McEvoy	1	57kg			111
12	24x53358x2	HINGED	Chris Waller	Brenton Avdulla	4	57kg			111

Table Credit: Racing Australia.