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Just six runners remain in the mix for the key support act on Sydney’s Apollo Stakes Day card this Saturday with two early scratchings from the 2026 Expressway Stakes field at Royal Randwick.

Despite the low numbers, this year’s Group 2 $300,000 Expressway Stakes (1200m) remains an important lead-up to the autumn’s Group 1 majors and still features plenty of talent.

Two horses have come out of the original line-up with The Instructor (8) and Manaal (2) who have opted to run in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes and Group 3 Triscay Stakes respectively instead.

Updated Expressway Stakes betting markets at Ladbrokes.com.au are in favour of a first-up win by Chris Waller‘s three-time Group 1 winning mare Joliestar ($2.40).

Waller is after his first Expressway win since Weary back in 2015 and there’s plenty of early support for a winning return by his five-year-old daughter of Zoustar.

A very consistent top-level performer, Joliestar has amassed over $6.5 million in career earnings from her 18 starts to date and she is a genuine 1200m specialist (10:4-0-3).

Chasing her first win since claiming Randwick’s Group 2 The Shorts first-up last September, she is all class and ended her spring with an eye-catching third behind Giga Kick losing few admirers when only 1.45 lengths beaten down the Flemington straight in the Group 1 Champions Sprint.

Her Randwick record is imposing (9:3-2-1) and this first-up flyer ticks plenty of boxes to salute for the punters from barrier five with jockey James McDonald booked for the ride before starting his 10-day suspension on Sunday for breaching the whip rules during his winning ride on Fireball in the $2 million Inglis Millennium.

With a diminutive line-up the Expressway has been thrown open and three of Joliestar’s rivals are also now under double figures for the win including the current $3.80 second elect Angel Capital also hailing from the Waller stable.

A four-year-old son of Harry Angel, the gelding lines-up for his 12th career start and races for the first time since his brave second when a length beaten by Jimmysstar in Caulfield’s Group 1 CF Orr Stakes last November.

He’s been strong in his two lead-up trials and boasts a 50% winning strike-rate from his four goes at the distance to date.

Saturday marks just his second trip to Royal Randwick however with his first run at the circuit seeing him finish mid-field without disgrace when sixth in last year’s $20 million The Everest.

The stable’s classy, rails-drawn mare Lady Shenandoah ($4.20) and the Bjorn Baker-trained Caballus ($4.80) are the other single figure fancies in the mix.

Lady Shenandoah has already made herself a household name as a triple Group 1 winner with victories in the Flight Stakes and Surround Stakes before beating home the older mares in an outstanding three-year-old performance in last year’s Coolmore Classic.

She didn’t hit quite the same heights over the spring but remained consistent without winning with strong performances against quality fields in events including the Manikato (4th), Everest (7th) and Russell Balding Stakes (2nd) putting her right in the frame again here.

The Expressway field is completed by Joe Pride‘s potential value runner Coal Crusher ($12) and triple-figure outsider Who But Roo ($151) who looks to be making up numbers outclassed in this line-up.

The 2026 Expressway Stakes is set to run as Randwick Race 7 at 3:50pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

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