A select field of nine have accepted for the $750,000 Group I MVRC Moir Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley on Saturday with a trio of elite three year-olds set to take on the older sprinters that include established Group I winners I Wish I Win and Chain of Lightning and two exciting four year-olds by I Am Invincible.
The field and barrier draw for the Moir Stakes-
No. – Horse – Trainer – Jockey – Barrier – Weight
1 – I Wish I Win (Savabeel) – Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman – Luke Nolen – 5 – 58.5kg
2 – Mornington Glory (Shalaa (IRE) – Gavin Bedggood – Ethan Brown – 1 – 58.5kg
3 – Johnny Rocker (Jukebox) – Nick Ryan – Mark Zahra – 3 – 58.5kg
4 – Caballus (I Am Invincible) – Bjorn Baker – Josh Parr – 9 – 58.5kg
5 – Chain of Lightning (Fighting Sun) – Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman – TBA – 4 – 56.5kg
6 – Estriella (I Am Invincible) – Ciaron Maher – Blake Shinn – 8 – 56.5kg
7 – Coleman (Pierata) Matt Laurie – Kerrin McEvoy – 6 – 52kg
8 – Lady of Camelot (Written Tycoon) – Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott – Zac Lloyd (a) – 2 – 50kg
9 – Hayasugi (Royal Meeting (IRE) – Clinton McDonald – Jamie Kah – 7 – 50kg
Super fascinating runners are a pair of up and coming four year-olds by I Am Invincible in Caballus, interestingly still a stallion and Estriella, who is seen as potential superstar by her trainer Ciaron Maher.
Caballus and Estriella are both first up from a spell and have looked good in recent barrier trials with the mare winning by five lengths at Cranbourne, while the stallion has had two trials for seconds to Joliestar and Storm Boy, who have both come out and won Group races.
Punters will note the pair have clashed twice previously, the first time in the last metro juvenile race of the season last year at Randwick and on that occasion Caballus won by a head.
And they met again in the $1million Inglis Sprint in March this year where Estriella won easily and Caballus finished third.
They are both nice horses in the making and lining up in a Group I race first up only serves to reinforce the regard in which they are held.
Three year-olds have a good record in this race as it has evolved into a Group I sprint with Blue Diamond winners Samaready and Extreme Choice successful in 2013 and 2016, while Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign won it in 2017 and then in 2022 it was Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Coolangatta that claimed it as her first G1 win.
The Golden Slipper quinella of Lady of Camelot and Coleman, plus Blue Diamond winner Hayasugi have all accepted and have legitimate claims, so stay tuned for a thriller!
