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Sydney is host to a bumper day’s racing on Saturday including one of the season’s leading races for fillies and mares, and the Races.com.au form crew have provided our expert 2026 The Invitation race preview, best bets and predictions below.
Held for the sixth time in 2026, the now Group 2 $1 million The Invitation (1400m) features a quality field of 12 female gallopers who have all accepted the summons to face off for the lucrative prize money on offer this Spring Champion Stakes Day.
Sure, we’ve got a Cox Plate running in Melbourne, but there’s quality in this year’s The Invitation field and plenty of punters will be tuning in to see which mare comes out on top.
Current favourite in The Invitation betting at Ladbrokes is the highly rated Chris Waller-trained Lazzura at $3.30 despite her carrying the 59kg topweight and the wide gate 12 draw for jockey Tommy Berry to overcome.
The five-year-old daughter of Snitzel has been the picture of consistency over her 19-start career to date, and she hasn’t finished out of the money since her back-to-back Group 1 fifths in the Toorak and Empire Rose last Spring Carnival.
Lightly raced in the autumn, she collected her own elite-level trophy in the Coolmore Classic against her own kind before a game second to Beiwacht in the All Aged – the form of which has been firmly franked this spring.
Fresh last month she resumed to run a close third as the beaten Group 2 Sheraco Stakes favourite behind Savvy Hallie before bouncing back into the winner’s stall at Rosehill on September 26 with an impressive Group 2 Golden Pendant victory at prohibitive odds.
The best mare in the country outside the top echelon Group 1 ranks, she looks to have found another ideal assignment here. She settled just off the speed before letting down with an impressive turn of foot to win the Golden Pendant at Rosehill over this distance four weeks ago.
The wide draw adds an element of intrigue and will require a clever ride from Berry, but if she gets the right run at the right time, she’s going to take plenty of beating.
The danger on the second line of betting and the early The Invitation market mover is Gerringong now into $4 for Chris & Corey Munce.
Drawn well midfield in gate seven with Nash Rawiller coming aboard, the Blue Point five-year-old chases her first Randwick success at her fifth start at the track.
Third back home in the winter’s Group 1 Tatt’s Tiara at Eagle Farm, she’s had just the one lead-up run this prep which she won when claiming victory in the Group 3 The Nivison in a narrow effort at Rosehill on October 10.
Having to make her own luck from a wide gate, she was so tough holding on off an on-pace run throughout to get the chocolates and set her up beautifully for this assignment up in trip.
She has earned her shot at this feature race, but will need to be good again having had six previous 1400m assignments without a win.
A further three runners are also under $10 to win with the Gary Portelli-trained Verona Rose ($7),
Idle Flyer ($8.50) for Matthew Smith and Perfumist ($9.50) for Bjorn Baker whose been enjoying a killer carnival.
Verona Rose is drawn to get a dream run from barrier four and has had two eye-catching performances already this time in when 3rd in the Group 2 Theo Marks behind Skyhook and second over the line behind Lazzura in the Golden Pendant at double-figures.
She was closing the gap late in the Pendant but is a mare that traditionally runs better early stages of a campaign so third-up could see her drop form.
Idle Flyer meanwhile is another The Invitation contender with a Group 1 on the CV having beaten the likes of Lady Shenandoah and Treasurethe Moment in the Queen Of The Turf in the autumn.
She did it tough in the Epsom last time out from a wide gate running a distant 14th in a very forgivable effort and brings in some strong form lines including her fourth under two lengths off the country’s best, Autumn Glow, the run prior in the Group 2 7 Stakes.
Coming back to the 1400m now after dual mile performances, if she can recapture her best form, she’s more than capable of making her presence felt in the finish.
As for Perfumist, the Kiwi-bred daughter of El Roca is also out to atone off a poor Epsom performance when she faded right out to cross dead last.
The run before that in easier company saw her destroy Newcastle’s Group 3 Tibbie Stakes field over the 1400, and back to her pet trip against these she can do better.
As for the roughies in the mix, one that stands out as a potentially overlooked chance peaking at the right time is Modella at $20.
She may not have been able to match motors with Idle Flyer in the autumn when outclassed in the Emancipation and Queen Of The Turf, but she’s shown good improvement this spring winning the Listed Mona Lisa first-up at Wyong before her brave third in the Golden Pendant with the pace working against her.
The Invitation 2026 is set to run as Randwick Race 8 at 4:45pm (AEDT) on Saturday’s 10-race card in Sydney.
The Invitation 2026 Best Bets
Favourite: No. 1 Lazzura
| 1. Lazzura (12) J: Tommy Berry 59kg 12×31 T: Chris Waller | |||
| Third-up today and won third-up in the past. First-up sat on the pace when 3rd of 8 in the G2 Sheraco Stakes at Rosehill on September 12 over 1200m, 0.6 len behind Savvy Hallie carrying 58kg at $2.90. Second-up favourite; came from midfield and won by 1.2 len in the G2 Golden Pendant at Rosehill on September 26 over 1400m defeating Verona Rose carrying 58kg at $1.85. Definite winning chance. | |||
Each Way Danger: No. 3 Verona Rose
Best Roughie: No. 12 Modella
2026 The Invitation Same Race Multi Selections
$14.50 (at time of publish) through Ladbrokes
- Top 2 – No. 1 Lazzura
- Top 4 – No. 3 Verona Rose
- Top 5 – No. 12 Modella
