Champion Hong Kong jockey Joao Moreira will make it a complete international assault against Winx when he rides Irish galloper Success Days in the 2018 Group 1 $4m Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on the second day of The Championships on April 14.
Joao Moreira, above, has been booked to ride Irish galloper Success Days in the 2018 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick. Photo by Sarah Ebbett.
Moreira, the three times Hong Kong Jockey Club’s premiership winning jockey, is currently leading this seasons premiership with eighty-five wins and has been booked to partner the Ken Condon trained grey Success Days in The Championships’ premier weight for age showcase.
Success Days has only been placed once at Group 1 level with his best win being the Group 2 £120,000 York Stakes (2062m) at York in England in July 2017.
Success Days has settled into the Canterbury quarantine centre well after a long flight from England and travel companion Stephen McCarthy said that the six year old will come to hand very quickly.
“Prior to leaving Newmarket it was a case of put him in the microwave and he’s ready to run. One nice bit of work and he should be ready to rock,’’ McCarthy told Racing New South Wales News.
McCarthy accepts that it will be tough task taking on Winx in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes but added that the grey does like to bowl along in front and excels on rain affected ground.
“He’s very good fresh and his first couple are his best runs. He burns out very quick,’’ McCarthy said.
“He loves to get on with it. He’s a funny type of horse.
“To follow him you don’t think he’s going very quick, he looks like he’s doing it in slow motion, especially in soft ground and he just seems to nail horses trying to follow them.
“He can go a good gallop and is a proper mile and a quarter horse. I know Winx enjoys a bit of cut as well but I can’t emphasise how much he likes it soft.’’
“It was a bit of a gamble to come and try it. There were a couple of races in Ireland we could have stayed for but we said ‘to hell with it, it’s a once in a lifetime chance to have a go at it’.’’
Betting for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ladbrokes.com.au has Success Days marked at $34 while Winx is the short priced $1.20 favourite.
The Chris Waller trained Winx made it twenty-four wins in succession last Saturday with her win in the Group 1 $1m The Agency George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill and will have her next run in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Early betting for the 2018 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ladbrokes.com.au: $1.20 Winx, $9 Humidor, $13 Gailo Chop, $15 Happy Clapper, Hartnell, $21 Ace High, Aloisia, Ambitious, D’Argento, $26 Admire Winner, Almandin, Poetic Dreaam, Tom Melbourne, $34 Endless Drama, One Foot In Heaven, Satono Rasen, Single Gaze, Success Days, The Taj Mahal, $41 Tosen Stardom, $51 or better the rest.
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