The bookies are having a hard time separating the top three in the Railway Stakes 2017 odds ahead of the $1 million Perth Group 1 this weekend at Ascot Racecourse.

The Chris Waller-trained Tom Melbourne is the shortest-priced of the eastern-state raiders in Railway Stakes 2017 betting for Perth this weekend. Photo: Steve Hart.

There’s a capacity field of summer gallopers engaged in this season’s Group 1 $1 million Railway Stakes (1600m), but just four of those are under double-figures for the win.

The latest Railway Stakes odds at Ladbrokes.com.au feature three runners battling for favouritism and two sharing top spot at a quote of $6.

Last year’s Railway Stakes winner Scales Of Justice goes up 4.5kg to 57.5kg this year and has a double-digit barrier to overcome, but remains at $6 to salute on back-to-back years for the first time since Tudor Mak (1966-67).

The Lindsey Smith-trained Ascot specialist went down in a shock loss as the short-priced favourite when third on November 11 in the Group 2 Lee Steere Stakes (1400m), but was fresh that day off a Melbourne campaign and will be improving fitness-wise going up to a mile on Saturday.

Sharing the top line of Railway Stakes betting at $6 with last year’s champ is the Chris Waller-trained Sydney raider Tom Melbourne.

Waller won the race two years back with Good Project (2015) and returns with a double-pronged attack on the Railway Stakes field in 2017.

His best chance of success lies in Dylan Thomas seven-year-old Tom Melbourne who gets the chance to go forward and lead from barrier one with Damien Oliver aboard on Saturday.

Tom Melbourne is best known not for winning, but for running second having done so in four of his five starts this campaign.

The latest was on November 4 at Flemington when narrowly defeated by stablemate Shillelagh in the Group 1 Kennedy Mile (1600m) and he shapes-up as a genuine hope of breaking that placegetter status after the frustrating run on the weekend.

The other best in betting giving all the weight away with 59kg is former Perth-trained champion Black Heart Bart.

Darren Weir’s five-time Group 1 winning son of Blackfriars needs to make history with the hefty weight, but he has plenty of Ascot form from earlier in his career (20:6-6-2) and is the class horse in the race.

It has been a while between drinks however with his last victory being the Group 1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield in late February, but he’s a genuine miler that only needs to overcome the weight to break the drought.

The other horse being kept safe in the markets by the bookmakers at $8.50 despite drawing the second widest alley is the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Supply And Demand.

With emergencies out, the Sebring five-year-old will jump from barrier 15 of 16, looking to be the first to salute from wider than gate 14 since 1990.

Supply And Demand won the Listed Caloundra Cup (2400m) – Listed Grafton Cup (2350m) double in the winter and comes off back-to-back spring seconds over 1400m.

He will relish the rise in distance on the weekend, but is suited to even more metres, with his final lead-up being on VRC Oaks Day when three-quarters of a length off the winner Hellova Street in the Group 3 Chatham Stakes (1400m).

There have been plenty of upset Railway Stakes results over the past decade including the back-to-back victories by $21 roughies Mr Moet (2012) and Luckygray (2013).

Of the double-figure hopefuls in the mix this summer those with genuine claims include Variation ($12) who won the WA Guineas on this day 12 months ago, Weir’s other runner Ulmann ($12) to be ridden by Damian Lane and last start Lee Steere Stakes winner Silverstream ($15) with the outside alley to overcome.

See below for the latest Railway Stakes 2017 betting odds, markets and summer racing specials open now at Ladbrokes.com.au.

2017 Railway Stakes Betting