Chris Waller’s Group 1 winning mare Espiona is the runner to beat in Saturday’s 2023 The Invitation race at Royal Randwick.

The $2 million The Invitation (1400m) for fillies and mares features a capacity field of invitees for the third edition of the set weights plus penalties clash on Spring Champion stakes Day.

Heading the latest The Invitation odds online at Ladbrokes.com.au is Group 1 Coolmore Classic winner over 1500m from the autumn, Espiona, at a short but still backable quote of $3.30.

Two back this classy Extreme Choice five-year-old was dominant second-up beating a good field in Rosehill’s Group 2 Golden Pendant (1400m) with 58kg.

She then contested the world’s richest turf race and was far from disgraced crossing a midfield seventh only 2.79 lengths off the winner Think About It in the $20 million The Everest (1200m).

Espiona was excellent there at big odds, is back against her own kind now, and she’ll relish the 1400m fourth-up and fit for the punters.

The favourite is drawn wider out in gate 10 but should be able to overcome the barrier on class alone and beat this field.

Two-time The Invitation winning hoop Kerrin McEvoy comes aboard Espiona on Saturday looking to make it a three-from-three sweep in the event to date.

Waller has three mares in this year’s The Invitation field with the top elect joined by stablemates Roots ($8.50) and Olentia ($26) drawn barriers four and seven respectively.

Group 2 winning Press Statement mare Roots is the more notable of the two being a Group 1 runner-up in the winter’s Tatt’s Tiara before a good run for fifth fresh only a length off Cepheus on October 7 in the $1.5 million Alan Brown Stakes (1400m).

Occupying the second line of The Invitation betting meanwhile at $3.90 as the predicted danger to Espiona is the Grahame Begg-trained Magic Time out in gate 11 with Tyler Schiller to ride.

The consistent Hellbent four-year-old has won four of her six starts to date including a strong lead-up victory in the Group 3 The Nivison (1200m) with notably less weight.

The James Cummings-trained Parisal donning the famous Godolphin Royal Blue is also well-supported in the markets at $7 to win for the second time this prep.

The four-year-old daughter of Astern has finished out of the top two just twice in her nine-start career and currently boasts four victories.

The latest of those was first-up here back in August’s Group 3 Toy Show Quality (1100m).

She went south next for a second in Caulfield’s Group 3 Cockram Stakes (1200m) and was last seen running second to Magic Time in the Nivison.

The Luke Pepper-trained Opal Ridge ($8.50) completes the single-figure fancies in this year’s event.

Rubick four-year-old Opal Ridge is a two-time Randwick winner who was strong as a three-year-old in Brisbane’s winter carnival.

Her opening run of the spring was also eye-catching when second to Front Page here on The Everest Day in the $2 million The Kosciuszko (1200m) with improvement predicted.

The 2023 The Invitation is set to run as Randwick Race 8 at 4:45pm (AEDT) with full markets available by clicking here thanks to Ladbrokes.com.au.

2023 The Invitation Final Field & Barrier Draw

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	34913x0x40	ALCOHOL FREE (IRE)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Adam Hyeronimus	13	59.5kg			114
2	0x6117x217	ESPIONA	Chris Waller	Kerrin McEvoy	10	59kg			111
3	44232110×8	ROYAL MERCHANT	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jason Collett	6	59kg			108
4	x320150x75	RUTHLESS DAME (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Sam Clipperton	14	59kg			108
5	1x145125x2	OPAL RIDGE	Luke Pepper	Dylan Gibbons (a)	3	59kg			103
6	x3410x52x5	ROOTS	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	4	58kg			107
7	11x13x51	MAGIC TIME	Grahame Begg	Tyler Schiller	11	58kg			101
8	7x1112x122	PARISAL	James Cummings	Regan Bayliss	2	58kg			99
9	14x11x1580	OLENTIA	Chris Waller	Ms Kathy O’Hara	7	58kg			94
10	127×574130	BANANA QUEEN	Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou	Joshua Parr	8	58kg			88
11	112x614x12	AUSBRED FLIRT	Brad Widdup	Ms Rachel King	9	57kg			88
12	40x7903x53	DALCHINI	Lee & Cherie Curtis	Jay Ford	12	57kg			84
13e	909139×408	RAZETA	Kris Lees		1	58kg			83
14e	47x20x66x9	RUSSIAN CONQUEST	Peter & Paul Snowden		5	57kg			80

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

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