A top edition of Sydney’s Group 1 $750,000 The Metropolitan (2400m) is pending on Epsom Handicap Day this Saturday at Royal Randwick.
Land Legend is one of the best from the strong Chris Waller trained contingent in Saturday’s The Metropolitan 2024 field. Photo: Steve Hart.
A capacity field of spring stayers will battle it out in the mile and a half showdown, with many eyeing a potential Caulfield Cup bid later in the month down in Melbourne.
It is an open affair in The Metropolitan betting with bookmakers struggling to pick a clear favourite.
Leading trainer Chris Waller has five past The Metropolitan trophies in the cabinet already and enters this year’s race with a strong contingent of eight final acceptors, six of which are currently in the starting line-up pre-attrition rate.
Amont the Waller camp is the current $6.50 favourite through Ladbrokes, first emergency Unusual Legacy, who will have apprentice jockey Wiremu Pinn in the saddle from a favourable gate should he gain a start.
Despite lacking any previous Black-Type experience, the galloper impressed in a recent Benchmark 88 race at Rosehill carting far more weight than his 50kg minimum in Saturday’s Group 1.
Waller’s French-bred Land Legend is the current second favourite with The Metropolitan odds of $7.50 on offer for the import who has just his fourth run on Australian shores.
Last year’s emphatic Randwick St. Leger winner seeks redemption after two unplaced starts this campaign including a somewhat disappointing run in the Group 3 Kingston Town Stakes (2000m) last start.
He is drawn well in gate five for The Metropolitan field however and connections are confident he will improve in this longer distanced feature with less kilos.
Ciaron Maher also saddles-up three strong contenders with Future History and Berkshire Breeze both at single figures to win and the widely drawn Wyclif.
Future History finished narrowly behind Positivity in the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield last time out and looks ready to make a mark in his second Group 1 attempt having run 15th in the Melbourne Cup last November.
Stablemate Berkshire Breeze, with a strong record at the 2400m distance, comes off a close third in the Group 3 Lexus Archer Stakes (2500m) run in the wet at Flemington and is also being kept safe in the markets.
Other notable The Metrop contenders in the mix include last start Group 3 Colin Stephen winner First Light on the quick back-up for Waller and the stable’s recent Group3 Newcastle Gold Cup victor Etna Rosso.
The Metropolitan goes down at 4:10 pm AEST on Saturday as Race 8 at Randwick.
2024 The Metropolitan Field
| No | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | Probable Weight | Penalty | Hcp Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10x0213x48 | KALAPOUR (IRE) | Kris Lees | Nash Rawiller | 22 | 57kg | 108 | ||
| 2 | 01x3568x99 | MILITARY MISSION (IRE) | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Regan Bayliss | 1 | 55.5kg | 106 | ||
| 3 | 05x11404x4 | SERPENTINE (IRE) | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Tim Clark | 18 | 55kg | 106 | ||
| 4 | 3x3x211x56 | QUE TEMPESTA (IRE) | Ben, Will & JD Hayes | Craig Williams | 12 | 54.5kg | 105 | ||
| 5 | 08x06212x7 | ALEGRON | Bjorn Baker | Ms Rachel King | 5 | 54kg | 104 | ||
| 6 | 49621x00x8 | CLEVELAND (IRE) | Kris Lees | Dylan Gibbons | 19 | 54kg | 104 | ||
| 7 | 72x6442x80 | ATHABASCAN (FR) | John O’Shea & Tom Charlton | Jason Collett | 9 | 54kg | 102 | ||
| 8 | 211626×630 | TRUST IN YOU (NZ) | Bruce Wallace & Grant Cooksley | Tom Sherry | 14 | 53kg | 100 | ||
| 10 | 1x0132x665 | ZARDOZI | James Cummings | Zac Lloyd (a) | 10 | 52kg | 104 | ||
| 11 | 30x0656x32 | FUTURE HISTORY (GB) | Ciaron Maher | Zac Wadick (a) | 3 | 51.5kg | 101 | ||
| 13 | 0x871x3151 | ETNA ROSSO (IRE) | Chris Waller | Kerrin McEvoy | 13 | 51.5kg | 1.5kg | 97 | |
| 14 | x2755x1x06 | LAND LEGEND (FR) | Chris Waller | Reece Jones | 7 | 51kg | 98 | ||
| 15 | 75117×0441 | FIRST LIGHT (GB) | Chris Waller | Mark Du Plessis | 2 | 50kg | 98 | ||
| 18 | 25×7610722 | WYCLIF (GB) | Ciaron Maher | Andrew Adkins | 20 | 50kg | 94 | ||
| 19e | 11155×67 | IMMEDIACY (NZ) | Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young | Jett Stanley (a) | 21 | 50kg | 88 | ||
| 20e | 6×51145133 | STRATHTAY (NZ) | Chris Waller | Ms Winona Costin (late alt) | 11 | 50kg | 88 | ||
| 21e | 211x41x312 | UNUSUAL LEGACY (NZ) | Chris Waller | Jay Ford (late alt) | 4 | 50kg | 86 | ||
| 22e | 42×0651011 | MATUSALEM | Chris Waller | Ms Alyssa Collett (late alt) | 8 | 50kg | 83 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
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