The Cox Plate campaign of a number of top fancies will continue this weekend at Caulfield Racecourse with a host of hopefuls for next month’s feature nominated for the Underwood Stakes 2014.

Cox Plate bound mare Silent Achiever is one of the headline 2014 Underwood Stakes nominations for Saturday. Photo: Steve Hart.

The opening weight-for-age race over further than a mile in Melbourne for the spring, the $400,000 Group 1 Hyland Race Colours Underwood Stakes (1800m) has attracted a bumper crop of 25 nominations.

Many of those are earmarked for another weight-for-age run in the $3 million Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 25 including one time favourite through Ladbrokes.com.au Silent Achiever.

Roger James’s Kiwi mare was top of the Cox Plate odds before last weekend’s race results and now occupies the second line of betting behind last year’s Caulfield Cup winner Fawkner ($10) at $11.

That’s equal with the Aiden O’Brien-trained international entry Adelaide and Peter Moody’s Memsie Stakes – Makybe Diva Stakes double winner Dissident.

A four time Group 1 winner herself including the Ranvet Stakes – The BMW double at Rosehill during the autumn, O’Reilly six-year-old Silent Achiever as last seen running fourth to Dissident first-up in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) on August 30.

She ran sixth in the Underwood last year behind fellow New Zealander It’s A Dundeel but will be out to improve on that this year.

Last year’s third placegetter Happy Trails is also nominated for the Underwood again in 2014, Paul Beshara’s Good Journey gelding having finished runner-up to Shamus Award in the Cox Plate last spring.

Happy Trails ran eighth in the Memsie Stakes last time out however beaten five lengths, an effort the seven-year-old needs to atone for here to come in from his easing $26 Cox Plate odds.

Moody has also nominated his flying four-year-old Dissident for the Underwood Stakes, the unstoppable son of Sebring a chance to shoot for a third straight Group 1 win this time in.

While unsure whether he will display the same brilliance over more than a mile, Moody could give the stallion a chance in the Underwood after his narrow victory over Fawkner in the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington last weekend.

The next shortest priced of the Cox Plate chances nominated for the Underwood on Saturday is then the Chris Waller-trained Royal Descent ($17).

One of seven Underwood Stakes nominations for Waller, the last start Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes runner-up is also nominated for and the early Ladbrokes.com.au favourite to win the Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m) in Sydney this Saturday.

Waller’s other Underwood Stakes nominations include last year’s Makybe Diva Stakes champ Foreteller, Moriarty, Our Voodoo Prince and fellow George Main hopeful Hawkspur who won the Chelmsford defeating five of his stable mates at Randwick on September 6.

Over the years the Underwood has also proved a descent guide for the Caulfield Cup, the 2400m showdown running this year on October 18.

A number of notable Caulfield Cup fancies then are nominated for the weekend including the David Hayes & Tom Dabernig-trained Makybe Diva Stakes fourth placed import Spillway and Gai Waterhouse’s Sydney Cup winner The Offer who heads towards the $6.2 million Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington in November.

Spillway however is a better chance of going into the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) to chase the Caulfield Cup ballot exemption on offer to the winner where he will be ridden by Damien Oliver.

See below for the full Underwood Stakes 2014 nominations, the final field set for release on Wednesday morning.

Whether it is the Underwood this weekend or the upcoming Cox Plate and Caulfield Cup markets you’re after the odds on make sure you’ve got an account open online at Ladbrokes.com.au where you’ll find the right price on every horse in every race every day!

2014 Underwood Stakes Nominations

Caulfield Racecourse – 20/09/2014