Last year’s Cox Plate winner Adelaide is at the top of the list for the nominations for the weight for age Group 1 $1m George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday.
Cox Plate winner Adelaide tops the list of nominations for the George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill. Photo by Sarah Ebbett.
Adelaide will be having his first start for premier Sydney trainer Chris Waller after the former Irish trained galloper was prepares by Aidan O’Brien to win the 2014 Group 1 $3m Sportingbet Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley during the Melbourne Spring Carnival.
Top English rider Ryan Moore was aboard the Galileo four year old for that historic win and is set to be reunited with him in the George Ryder Stakes.
Ryan will get a feel of Adelaide at the Breakfast With The Stars at Rosehill on Tuesday morning and report back to his owners at Coolmore if he is ready to contest the George Ryder Stakes in preparation for a tilt at the Group 1 $4m Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on April 11.
“He will actually have a sit on him tomorrow morning at Breakfast With The Stars at Rosehill and that will give us an opportunity to hear his feedback on exactly where the horse is this preparation,” Coolmore representative James Bester told Melbourne’s RSN.
Bester added that the weather would also play a big part in the decision to run the valuable stallion.
“This is a horse we all know needs to hear his feet rattle to be effective and just the way the weather is in Sydney at the moment with soft tracks, that’s far from a certainty,” Bester said.
Adelaide is one of seven horses from the Waller stable that are among the sixteen nominations for the $1m weight for age race.
Waller’s other entries are I’m Imposing, Moriarty, Royal Descent, Sacred Falls, Weary and three year old Kermadec.
Kermadec is coming off an unlucky fourth to Wandjina in the Group 1 $500,000 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington on March 7 and is also nominated for the Group 1 $500,000 TAB Rosehill Guineas (2000m) on the same program.
Bart and James Cummings have nominated last start Group 1 Randwick Guineas winner Hallowed Crown to take on the older horses but the three year old could stick to his own age group after also being entered for the Rosehill Guineas.
Gai Waterhouse’s only entry for the George Ryder Stakes in Cosmic Endeavour who is chasing another Group 1 win after leading all of the way to take out the Group 1 $500,000 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) at Randwick on March 7.
Japanese stars World Ace and Real Impact are among the nominations along with John O’Shea’s English import It’s Somewhat who was able to score at his first Australian start in the Group 3 $150,000 Liverpool City Cup (1300m) at Warwick Farm on February 28.
The in-form Lindsay Park will have Criterion running for them and are hoping the Group 1 winning feeling continues after the training partnership of David Hayes and Tom Dabernig saddled up the quinella with Spillway and Extra Zero in the Group 1 $1m Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington last Saturday.
Criterion has had one run back from a spell for an eye catching third to Cosmic Endeavour in the Canterbury Stakes.
The nominations for the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes have been extended until 11am local time on Tuesday, March 17, 2015.
