The Valley comes to light on Friday night as Group 1 racing this Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival continues in the form of the $750,000 Moir Stakes (1000m).

Imperatriz is clear favourite in 2023 AJ Moir Stakes betting for the Group 1 highlight on The Valley’s twilight card this Friday. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

There is a diminutive eight-horse field gathered in the twilight feature with red hot favourite Imperatriz scaring away plenty of potential rivals.

Mark Walker’s New Zealand-trained mare is unbeaten at the notoriously tight Moonee Valley circuit and chases her third straight win at the track.

The multiple Group 1 winner enjoyed an elite level success down under in the autumn’s William Reid Stakes over the six furlongs here before impressing with a first-up Group 2 McEwen Stakes (1000m) victory.

She dominated the McEwen Stakes defeating Rothfire and last year’s The Everest hero Giga Kick by a minimum 2.5 lengths in a new race record time of 56.68 seconds.

That was scintillating return that the five-year-old daughter of I Am Invincible is tipped to emulate back up in grade but against similar competitors in the Moir.

Current Moir Stakes odds online at Ladbrokes have the classy mare at a short but deserving quote of $1.70.

Imperatriz reunites with Kiwi hoop Opie Bosson in gate five and is very hard to tip against.

Punters looking for value on the second line of Moir Stakes betting find the market mover Uncommon James who has been well-backed in from $6 to $4.60 for the upset.

The Steven O’Dea & Matthew Hoysted-trained Queenslander jumps from gate seven with Damian Lane aboard for the horse’s first run of the spring.

The consistent son of Cable Bay has won six from ten to date including February’s Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Sandown.

A second in Rosehill’s The Galaxy followed with the gun sprinter looking to atone for his last start eighth behind The Everest contender Overpass in Perth’s inaugural $4 million The Quokka (1200m) at Ascot back in mid-April.

He has been brought on fitness-wise with a Doomben trial back in August and is a noted fresh performer with support for his Moonee Valley debut.

The third elect at $6.50 drawn the rails is fellow Queenslander Rothfire for Robert Heathcote.

The now six-year-old son of Rothesay has previous winning form at Moonee Valley and is out to turn the tables on Imperatriz after his McEwen second.

He boasts a 50% winning strike-rate second-up with four wins from eight second-up starts and Blake Shinn continues associations.

Rothfire does not know how to run a bad race and was strong last prep with back-to-back Group 1 placings in Brisbane behind Think About It in the Kingsford Smith Cup (3^rd) and Stradbroke (2^nd).

The last of the single-figure fancies in the markets taking on the odds-on elect is the Henry Dwyer-trained Asfoora in gate six with Mitchell Aitken in the saddle.

The talented Flying Artie mare is easing in the markets despite coming off a first-up victory in the Group 3 The Heath 1100 at Caulfield.

Asfoora brings in strong form lines from the autumn with eye-catching runs in the Oakleigh (3^rd), Galaxy (4^th) and Quokka (4^th).

She is also a genuine short-distance specialist over the 1000m (4:3-0-0) and looks a nice value shot.

The 2023 AJ Moir Stakes is set to run as Moonee Valley Race 7 at 9:15pm (AEST) as the penultimate event on The Valley’s Friday night card.

2023 Moir Stakes Field & Barriers

Table Credit: Racing Australia.