The opening Group 1 contest of the Australian racing season shapes to be an entertaining watch, with 10 Group 1 winners amongst the 20 nominations for the Winx Stakes (1400m) on Saturday.
The nominations are dominated by the Chris Waller camp, who has named Verry Elleegant, Funstar, Imaging, Kolding, Mister Sea Wolf, and Star Of The Seas.
Melody Belle will be looking to show improvement from her plain first up performance when finishing last in the Group 2 Missile Stakes.
Master Of Wine is nominated, who is prominent in the betting for the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate, and Melbourne Cup. Fellow Hawkes runner Zebrowski is also named.
Avilius will be seeking to bounce back from a lean autumn, with Flit the other nominated runner for the Godolphin operation.
Verry Elleegant heads the early All-In betting as a $5 favourite, with Master Of Wine at $6, then Funstar ($8), Melody Belle ($8), and The Bostonian ($8) the other runners in single figures.
See the full list of nominations here:
| Last 10 | Horse Name | Age | Trainer | Hcp Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 147x54533x | AVILIUS (GB) | 7 | James Cummings | 114 |
| 2 | 122x13437x | BRANDENBURG (NZ) | 4 | John Sargent | 106 |
| 3 | x405x6161x | CON TE PARTIRO (USA) | 7 | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | 113 |
| 4 | 1205x2810x | DREAMFORCE | 8 | John Thompson | 116 |
| 5 | x211x2348x | FIERCE IMPACT (JPN) | 7 | Matthew Smith | 112 |
| 6 | 914x1602x2 | FLIT | 4 | James Cummings | 107 |
| 7 | x211x2142x | FUNSTAR | 4 | Chris Waller | 106 |
| 8 | x20x8100x3 | IMAGING (GB) | 6 | Chris Waller | 108 |
| 9 | 111x45778x | KOLDING (NZ) | 5 | Chris Waller | 110 |
| 10 | x2311x114x | MASTER OF WINE (GER) | 6 | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | 108 |
| 11 | 112x3346x6 | MELODY BELLE (NZ) | 6 | Jamie Richards | 115 |
| 12 | 6101x300x5 | MISTER SEA WOLF (IRE) | 9 | Chris Waller | 110 |
| 13 | 81412x2322 | NICCANOVA | 7 | Steve Tregea | 108 |
| 14 | 116162x | PRAGUE | 3 | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | 90 |
| 15 | x3121x140x | QUACKERJACK | 5 | Mark Newnham | 106 |
| 16 | 9393x1720x | STAR OF THE SEAS (NZ) | 6 | Chris Waller | 107 |
| 17 | 0x9358x12x | THE BOSTONIAN (NZ) | 6 | Tony Pike | 116 |
| 18 | 410x42212x | VERRY ELLEEGANT (NZ) | 5 | Chris Waller | 116 |
| 19 | 185310x39x | WOLFE (JPN) | 6 | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | 99 |
| 20 | 26x1122x | ZEBROWSKI (NZ) | 4 | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | 96 |
