3 minute read
Racing and Sports look at the key chances in the third edition of The Pinnacles.
It's day three of the pinnacles and it's time to sprint with our second Group 1 of The Pinnacles, The Winterbottom Stakes (1200m).
Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) - $1.5 million
| Last Year's Winner | Overpass - 119 |
| 5yr Avg. Winning Rating | 119 |
| Highest Rated Winner (Since 2000) | Takeover Target (2008) - 126 |
Run under Weight For Age conditions with a $1.5 million purse, the Winterbottom Stakes is the crown jewel of the WA Racing sprinting landscape and therefore attracts many talented eastern raiders looking to take a cut.
Of the three Group 1s on the WA Racing callender, the Winterbottom Stakes takes the most amount of winning.
Boasting an average winning rating a few pounds above its counterparts in The Railway (115) and The Northerly (114), the Winterbottom is a race that requires proper horses to run proper races.
Favourite & Highest Rated: Overpass (122)
Champion sprinter and adopted Western Australian Overpass, ran smack bang to the 5yr avg winning rate when achieveing his maiden Group 1 success last year.
Winning over $5 million in prize money from his three journeys across the Nullabor, this six-year-old son of Vancouver is rated 122 at Racing and Sports off his first-up Group 3 Sydney Stakes victory. While he comes to Perth off his shortest gap between runs in his last three starts at Ascot, there's little doubting that if he bring his A-game his unbeaten record in WA stays in tact.
Trying to fit the mould, there are only two other runners in the field who own a rating that matches or betters the five year average and that's Lady Laguna and Western Empire, though there are knocks on both.
Bravo Centurion from the Luke Fernie yard holds plenty of intrigue as he shoots for his seventh straight success, specfically around the amount of speed he could inject into the race.
Rated 116+ off his arrogant Group 3 Prince Of Wales Stakes rout 28 days ago, it's presumed the speedy four-year-old will be burning across to lead from barrier 15 (one inside Overpass) but whether he runs a strong 1200m is still for many up in the air. Although scoring second up over the distance, that was only at BM72+ level at Pinjarra.
With Overpass most likely to get on his back and play stalker, will he handle the Group 1 pressure?
For a deep dive of the Group 1 feature you can head here, where you will find some quality inisght in the form of a full-length preview written by sharp form analyst Trent Crebbin.