Chris Waller’s talented filly Omei Sword will have to overcome the outside barrier in the Group 1 $600,000 Coolmore Classic (1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday if she is to break through for her maiden Group 1 win.
Omei Sword, above, has drawn the outside barrier in the Coolmore Classic at Rosehill. Photo by Steve Hart.
Omei Sword came up barrier nineteen of nineteen in the fillies and mares Group 1 contest and will be ridden by Brenton Avdulla who is replacing Hugh Bowman who was aboard the High Chaparral filly when a first up second to La Bella Diosa in the Group 2 $200,000 Theraces.com.au Surround Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on February 25 on a heavy track.
Waller will also saddle up French Emotion (barrier 13) with Chad Lever booked to ride and Shillelagh (barrier 7) with Johan Victoire in the saddle.
Omei Sword will again be up against the Kiwi filly La Bella Diosa who has drawn barrier three with Jay Ford taking over from Jason Collett.
Rangiora trainers Mandy and Matt Brown were initially heading to the Group 3 $200,000 Arrowfield Kembla Grange Classic (1600m) at Kembla Grange on Friday but on second thoughts decided to run La Bella Diosa in the Coolmore Classic.
“To be honest we didn’t expect her to win the way she did in the Surround and after that we thought going to Kembla was a wee bit of a step back being a Group Three and with the top weight,” Mandy Brown told AAP.
“We thought while we’re here why not have another go at a Group One?”
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott’s dual Group 1 winning filly Global Glamour has also fared poorly at the barrier draw, coming up with gate sixteen with Kerrin McEvoy talking over from Josh Par and having his first ride back on the Star Witness filly since winning the Group 1 $500,000 Schweppes Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield during the 2016 Melbourne Spring Carnival.
Global Glamour’s other Group 1 winning performance was for Tim Clark in the $500,000 Sydney Airport Flight Stakes (1600m) at Randwick a week before her Thousand Guineas victory.
The in-form Dixie Blossoms has drawn just worse than midfield at barrier twelve and Tim Clark is sticking with the Ron Quinton trained filly after the pair combined for a last start win in the Group 2 $200,000 Guy Walter Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on February 25.
Quality mare First Seal was also out of luck at the barrier draw and will have to jump from gate seventeen for her first 2017 Sydney Autumn Carnival appearance with Blake Shinn to ride.
First Seal, who will have to carry the top weight of 58kg, will be having her first run back since finishing eight to I Am A Star in the Group 1 $500,000 Myer Classic (1600m) at Flemington during the 2016 Melbourne Spring Carnival but she has indicated that she is back to her best with two recent barrier trials wins at Warwick Farm and Randwick.
Melbourne mare Silent Sedition was given the visitor’s draw of barrier eighteen with Sam Clipperton to have his first ride on the Andrew Noblet trained four year old.
Silent Sedition will be having her first run at the Sydney way of racing and will also be stepping out on a rain affected surface for the first time if the Rosehill track fails to dry out before the weekend.
On Wednesday morning Rosehill was rated a heavy 9 after receiving 87.5mm of rain in the last seven days but the forecast this week is nothing like the torrential rain that swept across Sydney last week with only light showers tipped for the lead up to the weekend.
Even though Omei Sword has drawn the extreme outside barrier, she has retained her spot at the top of the Coolmore Classic market order at $3.80 with Ladbrokes.com.au.
Dixie Blossoms and Global Glamour share the second line of betting at $7 just ahead of La Bella Diosa at $9.50.
