Verry Elleegant will face just five rivals in her bid at a 12th Group 1 success when Chris Waller’s mighty mare jumps odds-on for her title defence in Saturday’s Group 1 $700,000 Ranvet Stakes (2000m).
Verry Elleegant chases her 12th Group 1 success as favourite in Saturday’s 2022 Ranvet Stakes on Golden Slipper Day. Photo: Steve Hart.
After running second in both the Chipping Norton and Ranvet in 2020, the brilliant daughter of Zed did the double last Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival and is out to repeat the feat again this season.
The reigning Horse of the Year took her elite level tally up to 11 second-up last start with the superlative six-year-old posting a narrow victory on a Heavy (10) in Randwick’s Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m).
Winner of last November’s iconic Melbourne Cup race over two miles, the versatility and talent Verry Elleegant posses is hard to put into words and she will take the power of beating again in the Ranvet.
Only a handful of rivals, many arguably there simply to make-up numbers, have accepted to take on the $14.6 million earner who has a stellar record at Rosehill Gardens.
From five starts at the track she boasts four wins and a second, and with form on anything from Good – Heavy she will get conditions to suit no matter what the current Heavy (8) course does before jump.
All eyes will be on barrier four where Verry Elleegant will jump with James McDonald aboard and the latest Ranvet Stakes odds at Ladbrokes.com.au have her at a justifiably short quote of $1.40.
Success will see the equine superstar further cement her spot in the history books as just the second mare to win dual editions of the Ranvet along with Wenona Girl (1961, 1964).
Waller is confident his stable ace will succeed and is unfazed by the likelihood of a slow tempo on Saturday.
“If they want to dawdle, I wouldn’t be afraid to get rolling on her,” the master horseman told Racenet this week.
“But she settled well in a two-mile race (Melbourne Cup), she is a different horse now and you can ride her where ever you want.
“She has a perfect draw to be where she wants in the run.”
Second elect at $5.50 is fellow Group 1 winning mare Montefilia in barrier two with in-form hoop Jason Collett to ride.
David Payne’s four-year-old daughter of Kermadec celebrated her third Group 1 success during the spring in The Metropolitan (2400m) before her Caulfield Cup fourth to Incentivise.
She was seventh fresh in the Chipping Norton over the mile, only two and a half-lengths beaten, and is the improver second-up here stripping fitter and getting out over a more suitable distance.
Another Chipping Norton graduate also looking to turn the tables and score an upset over the queen on the weekend is the Hawkes Racing-trained Angel Of Truth.
Third first-up in the Chipping at big odds of 60/1, the six-year-old seems a little short even in such a diminutive field not having won since his ATC Derby success back in April of 2019.
The early Ranvet Stakes market mover meanwhile is the Michael Moroney-trained Emissary backed in from $15 to $11 to potentially surprise a few on the back of his Peter Young Stakes third to Cascadian last month.
The Ranvet Stakes field is completed by the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Entente ($26) and the rails-drawn Sikandarabad ($61) to be ridden by Hugh Bowman.
The 2022 Ranvet Stakes is set to run as Race 5 at 2:40pm (AEDT) as the opening Group 1 race on Slipper Day.
