Winter Stakes – 21 Jun 2008

Saturday is the Winter Solstice and the shortest day of 2008 when the final Group One race of the Australian racing season, the Winter Stakes, will be run.

The Queensland Breeders and Tattersall’s Winter Stakes over 1400 metres has attracted a capacity field of twenty. It is a standard weight-for-age race for fillies and mares and carries prizemoney of $500,000.

Kris Lees trains three of the twenty starters with Absolutelyfabulous, Fritz’s Princess and Litter. Fritz’s Princess is a bit of a query over the distance and Absolutelyfabulous failed on a heavy track at her last start, but fine conditions are forecast for Saturday.

Other trainers with multiple starters are Danny O’Brien and Bryan Guy. O’Brien has Juste Momente, who has not started for a month but goes well fresh, and Absolut Glam who looks the best of the three three-year-olds in the race. Guy has Lasoron and Fabiarna, who is having her first start for him after having been transferred from another stable.

An interesting runner is Soul Diva who is the oldest mare in the field and won her last start over 1400 metres at Flemington after a break of nearly sixteen months. She certainly looks a chance here. Other main chances are the David Hayes trained Anamato and the Rex Lipp trained Sequential Charm.

Vietnam won well at her last start and the distance suits Vormista if she can recapture her earlier form.

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