Rejuvenated sprinter Lord Of The Sky headlines the small field for the Listed $120,000 Kensington Stakes (1000m) at Flemington on Saturday.
Lord Of The Sky, above, is in the final field for the Kensington Stakes at Flemington. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Barrier eight in the field of eight won’t be a concern for Lord Of The Sky who was back in the winner’s stall last start when he held on to score a narrow win after leading in the Group 3 $150,000 Standish Handicap (1200m) down the Flemington straight on New Year’s Day.
Lord Of The Sky has been the flag bearer for the Robbie Laing stable for many seasons and his Standish Handicap win was the seven year old’s seventh victory for the stable.
Damien Oliver helped Lord Of The Sky find his way back to the winner’s circle last start but Ben Melham takes the ride in the Kensington Stakes.
Oliver finds himself back on Saracino who will jump from barrier three and will be re-united with the Mike Moroney trained four year old after they combined for a sixth placing behind Derryn in the Group 2 $600,000 Arrowfield 3yo Sprint (1200m) at Randwick during the The Championships over the 2017 Sydney Autumn Carnival.
Saracino was the winner of the Group 2 NZ$100,000 Wellington Guineas (1400m) at Trentham in New Zealand in March but was unplaced from three runs in Australia and was spelled after running twelfth to Redkirk Warrior in the Group 2 $200,000 Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) at Flemington during the 2017 Melbourne Spring Carnival.
Matt Ellerton and Simon Zahra will saddle up three runners in the Kensington Stakes, Group 1 winner Flamberge, handy sprinter Rock ‘N’ Gold and former Hong Kong short course specialist Amber Sky.
Flamberge with Damian Lane in the saddle will have to carry the 61.5kg top weight from barrier four while Rock ‘N’ Gold drew the one marble with Chris Symons booked to ride.
Amber Sky (barrier 7, Mark Zahra) is the winner of seven races, all over the 1000m dash, with six at Sha Tin in Hong Kong plus the Group 1 US$1m Al Quoz Sprint (1000m) at Meydan in Dubai in 2014.
The Darren Weir trained Thermal Current will be backing up in the Kensington Stakes after running third to stablemate Ken’s Dream last Saturday over 1100m in the Better Beyond Plate down the Flemington straight.
Weir has decided to put the blinkers back on Thermal Current who will jump from gate six with Craig Williams taking over from apprentice Ethan Brown.