NZB Spring WFA Championship Continues With Outstanding Underwood Field
28 September 2017
Sunday’s A$750,000 Hyland Race Colours Caulfield Stakes (1800m) is the third leg of the four-race New Zealand Bloodstock Caulfield Spring WFA Championship Series, with a spectacular field and the potential for major movement on the points table.
Black Heart Bart (Blackfriars) placed in both the Group 2 PB Lawrence Stakes and the Group 1 New Zealand Bloodstock Memsie Stakes, topping the Championship table at the halfway mark with 14 points.
Breathing down his neck are the winners of the two races, Lawrence Stakes winner Hartnell (Authorized) and Memsie Stakes victor Vega Magic (Lope de Vega) with 10 points apiece.
Black Heart Bart and Hartnell will renew their rivalry in Sunday’s big race, and if either wins they will take a formidable lead in the Championship.
Other runners in Sunday’s field with points to their name are He’s Our Rokkii (NZ) (Roc de Cambes) with 4 and Abbey Marie (Redoute’s Choice) with 1.
The Series has an interesting newcomer on Sunday in the form of superstar Karaka graduate Bonneval (NZ) (Makfi), the New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year and New Zealand Horse of the Year last season who resumed with a powerful win in the Group 2 Dato’ Tan Chin Nam Stakes (1600m).
The winner of Sunday’s race will earn 10 points with 8 for second, 6 for third, 4 for fourth, 3 for fifth and one point each for sixth, seventh and eighth.
The Underwood Stakes is Race 7 at Caulfield on Sunday with a start time of 4.00pm (6.00pm).
The fourth and final leg of the NZB Caulfield Spring WFA Championship Series will be the A$1m Ladbrokes Caulfield Stakes (2000m) on October 14.
| # | Horse | Draw | Comments | Trainer | Jockey |
| 1 | Hartnell | 8 | A multiple Group 1 winner, Hartnell (Authorized) made an early impact in the Series with victory in the PB Lawrence Stakes (1400m). A last-start second in the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m), he is expected to appreciate the extra 200 metres of this race. | James Cummings | Kerrin McEvoy |
| 2 | Black Heart Bart | 9 | The defending NZB Caulfield Spring WFA Championship winner, Black Heart Bart (Blackfriars) won this race last year on his way to a dominant Series victory with 28 points. A true Caulfield specialist, he has won three Group 1 races at the track. | Darren Weir | Brad Rawiller |
| 3 | Gailo Chop | 1 | A Group 1 winner of the Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) in 2015, Gailo Chop (Deportivo) has returned from a long lay-off this spring with three starts for a Listed win and a last-start fourth in the Makybe Diva Stakes. | Darren Weir | Mark Zahra |
| 4 | He's Our Rokkii | 2 | New Zealand-bred He's Our Rokkii (Roc de Cambes) is a Group 1 winner at Caulfield, having taken out last year's Toorak Handicap. His two starts this spring have produced a fourth in the Lawrence Stakes and a sixth in the Group 2 Dato Tan Tin Nam Stakes (1600m). | David & Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig | Regan Bayliss |
| 5 | Inference | 6 | Winner of the Group 1 Randwick Guineas (1600m) in the autumn, Inference (So You Think) has been unplaced in both spring starts in the Group 2 Warwick Stakes (1600m) and the Makybe Diva Stakes. | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Dwayne Dunn |
| 6 | Single Gaze | 4 | Single Gaze (Not A Single Doubt) was a Group 1 winner as a three-year-old and performed well in strong races during the Queensland winter carnival. She was a solid last-start fifth in the Makybe Diva Stakes. | Nick Olive | Kathy O'Hara |
| 7 | Abbey Marie | 5 | Runner-up in the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes, Abbey Marie (Redoute's Choice) also raced last Saturday with a fifth placing in the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m). | Michael Kent | |
| 8 | Bonneval | 3 | Star New Zealander Bonneval (NZ) has won five Group races in a row - the Group 2 Sir Tristram Fillies' Classic (2000m), Group 3 Lowland Stakes (2100m), Group 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m), Group 1 Australian Oaks (2400m) and last month's Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes. The New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year and New Zealand Horse of the Year is from the champion Cambridge stable of Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman. Baker won this race in 2011 with Lion Tamer and 2013 with Dundeel. | Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman | Hugh Bowman |
| 9 | Samovare | 7 | Like the Memsie Stakes winner Vega Magic, Samovare (Savabeel) is a former Perth galloper now trained by David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig. She finished second in last Saturday's Naturalism Stakes. | David & Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig | Damian Lane |