Dual Group 1 winner Yankee Rose might be an odds favourite to win the Group 1 $1m Crown Oaks but trainer David Vandyke is not certain that the filly will run out a strong 2500m at Flemington today.
Yankee Rose, above, is an odds on favourite to win the Crown Oaks at Flemington. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Yankee Rose was strong at the end of 2000m when she won her second Group 1 trophy in beating Swear in the $500,000 Moet & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick on October 8 and then was doing her best work at the finish when third to Winx in the Group 1 $3m Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 22.
Ladbrokes.com.au have Yankee Rose as the $1.70 favourite for the Crown Oaks and Vandyke thinks that is a very short price for a horse that hasn’t run over 2500m before.
“She’s very short for a horse that’s never run 2500 but I guess everyone’s banking on the fact that she’s a class animal,” Vandyke told racing.com.
“She’s competed in six Group 1 races consecutively and she’s competed against the best so that’s why she’s $1.70, if she’d already won over 2500 she’d be $1.30.”
“That’s the telling point whether she’ll run the 2500m, every other aspect of the race and her preparation has gone off faultlessly and I know she’s in the right physical condition to handle the 2500.”
“If this was a 2000m race I would understand her being that price but against the fillies at level weights certainly should be hard to beat.’’
Blake Shinn hops back on Yankee Rose (barrier 13) replacing lightweight jockey Dean Yendall who got down to ride her at 47.5kg in the Cox Plate after partnering her to victory in the Spring Champion Stakes.
Kiwi filly Eleonora is on the second line of Crown Oaks betting at $8.50 just ahead of the Lindsay Park trained filly Harlow Gold at $9.
The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman trained Eleonora is a last start winner in the Group 3 $150,000 New Zealand Bloodstock Ethereal Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield on October 15 while Harlow Gold is coming back to race against the fillies after finishing sixth against the colt and geldings in the Group 2 $200,000 LUCRF Super Vase (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 22.
The Peter Morgan and Craig Widdison trained Bella Sorellastra has been specked in the betting at long odds, firming in from $34 to $20.
