There were ten nominations for the Group 2 $200,000 Essendon Mazda Australia Stakes over 1200 metres at Moonee Valley on Friday night. However at final acceptances only 6 were paid up with quality horses like Denham and Lucky Secret deciding not to take part. The weight-for-age race has prizemoney down to 8th place ($4000) and the small field is disappointing. Heart of Dreams has also been scratched, leaving only 5 horses to go round.
Is the Australia Stakes the old William Reid Stakes or the old Carlyon Stakes?
It appears that the race called the Australia Stakes this year is not the same race called the Australia Stakes that Apache Cat won in 2008 and 2009. That was a Group 1 race that was formerly called the William Reid Stakes and is most famous for Manikato winning it in 5 consecutive years (1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983). This Australia Stakes is a Group 2 race that was previously called the Carlyon Stakes (and before that the Stanley Wooten Stakes) and was won by Lucky Secret last year. Maybe the confusing name change is one reason for the low number of runners.
Australia Stakes Betting
With the scratching of Heart of Dreams, SportsBet has Black Caviar at the short odds-on price of $1.45. Here De Angels is at $3, Royal Ida at $15, La Rocket at $41 and Ferocia at $151. Although she has not started since September, Black Caviar has won all of her 4 starts and carries 5.5kg less than the rest of the field. Royal Ida won the Standish when resuming on 1 January and is still a force to be recognised even though he is now a nine-year-old.
