Chautauqua Heads TJ Smith Stakes First Acceptances

March 9, 2015 by
Home > News > Fields & Form > Chautauqua Heads TJ Smith Stakes First Acceptances

The Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes-trained boom sprinter Chautauqua headlines a star-studded list of 48 horses still in the mix for the 2015 TJ Smith Stakes following today’s first acceptances for the lucrative The Championships clash.

Chautauqua

Chautauqua is the headline 2015 TJ Smith Stakes first acceptor for The Championships’ sprint on April 4. Photo: Adrienne Bicknell.

The $2.5 million Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) runs on Day 1 of Sydney’s The Championships at Royal Randwick on April 4 this autumn and the first acceptances for the weight-for-age showdown have cut the number of hopefuls down from 69 at nomination stage last month.

Heading the declarations and the early TJ Smith Stakes betting markets at Ladbrokes is progressive Encosta De Lago gelding Chautauqua who has won five of his 11 starts to date.

Runner-up to the world’s equal highest-rated sprinter Terravista in the Group 1 Darley Classic (1200m) at Flemington during the spring, the four-year-old returned on February 14 at Caulfield to win the Group 2 Rubiton Stakes (1100m).

He is down to race again in Melbourne this Super Saturday in the weekend’s $1 million Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) as he heads towards a raid on Sydney.

Team Hawkes also still have in TJ Smith Stakes contention Lightning Stakes third placegetter Deep Field, last year’s Golden Slipper winning filly Mossfun, Nostradamus and ultra-consistent six-year-old Our Boy Malachi who has won 16 of his 18 career starts.

Chautauqua’s main danger in both the Newmarket this weekend and in the TJ Smith Stakes later in the carnival season is the Joe Pride-trained Darley Classic winner Terravista, another headline first acceptor for the latter who returns to racing on Saturday.

Defending TJ Smith Stakes winner Lankan Rupee, who shares the title of world’s equal-best sprinter with Terravista, is also still in the mix after first acceptances.

Mick Price’s four-time Group 1 winning Redoute’s Choice gelding won the Group 1 Lightning Stakes (1000m) first-up and next defends his Newmarket Handicap title.

Runner-up in the Lightning Stakes, Chris Waller’s Group 1 winning three-year-old Brazen Beau is another top acceptor following his excellent resuming run.

The I Am Invincible colt won the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) down the Flemington straight last Derby Day on the back of a Group 2 Roman Consul Stakes (1200m) win at Randwick.

He is a top hope to threaten the older horses in the major carnival sprints this season and is out to become the first three-year-old TJ Smith Stakes winner since Gerald Ryan’s filly Melito did it in 2010.

Waller’s has two other first acceptors paid up for with his striking grey mare Catkins who was defeated by Cosmic Endeavour in the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) on Randwick Guineas Day and Coolmore Stud Stakes runner-up Delectation out to atone for a dead last in the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes (1400m) on February 21.

Third to Lankan Rupee in the TJ Smith Stakes last autumn, Rob Heathcote’s always-honest Queensland cult galloper Buffering meanwhile is the most notable non-acceptor.

He instead will be saved for a Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival campaign later in the year after an international campaign in December when sixth to Aerovelocity in the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin.

Bel Sprinter is also out after a failed ninth to Shamal Wind in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) late last month.

The TJ Smith Stakes final acceptances now close at 9am (AEDT) on Tuesday March 31, 2015.

# Form (Last 10) Horse Trainer Weight (kg) Hcp. Rating
1 954x91106x BOSS LANE Ron Quinton 58.5 87
2 2715x112x1 CHAUTAUQUA Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes 58.5 N/A
3 11x111x3 DEEP FIELD Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes 58.5 N/A
4 190x3136x5 FAMOUS SEAMUS (NZ) Noel Mayfield-Smith 58.5 N/A
5 5x14131x33 FAST ’N’ ROCKING David Hayes & Tom Dabernig 58.5 N/A
6 0x9214x02x FONTELINA Anthony Cummings 58.5 108
7 x46x5229x6 I’M ALL THE TALK Gary Portelli 58.5 N/A
8 05x12497x0 ICONIC Tony McEvoy 58.5 N/A
9 11133250×4 KNOYDART John O’Shea 58.5 N/A
10 111x2213x1 LANKAN RUPEE Mick Price 58.5 N/A
11 1144×42270 LORD OF THE SKY Robbie Laing 58.5 N/A
12 000x32212x LUCKY HUSSLER Darren Weir 58.5 N/A
13 x1511x111x OUR BOY MALACHI Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes 58.5 105
14 36x090x3x7 RAIN AFFAIR Joseph Pride 58.5 105
15 2547x3347x REBEL DANE Gary Portelli 58.5 N/A
16 16533x300x RYKER Gai Waterhouse 58.5 N/A
17 60x211x89x SIDESTEP John O’Shea 58.5 N/A
18 x110x1151x TERRAVISTA Joseph Pride 58.5 N/A
19 1437x112x8 TIGER TEES (NZ) Joseph Pride 58.5 112
20 262x12111x TRUST IN A GUST Darren Weir 58.5 N/A
21 14540x25x2 VA PENSIERO Jason Coyle 58.5 95
22 147x2208x0 A TIME FOR JULIA Peter G Moody 56.5 N/A
23 512x31425x ANGELIC LIGHT Robbie Griffiths 56.5 N/A
24 x122x511x2 BRAZEN BEAU Chris Waller 56.5 N/A
25 4x1233x112 CATKINS Chris Waller 56.5 N/A
26 32x52x111 CHLOE IN PARIS Ciaron Maher 56.5 N/A
27 11x4342x20 DELECTATION Chris Waller 56.5 N/A
28 0x62064228 DRIEFONTEIN Gai Waterhouse 56.5 107
29 10110×2 GALAXY PEGASUS David Hayes & Tom Dabernig 56.5 N/A
30 x11226x782 GIRL GUIDE David Hayes & Tom Dabernig 56.5 N/A
31 434x11650x GREGERS David Hayes & Tom Dabernig 56.5 N/A
32 3x20340x0x KUMAON John O’Shea 56.5 N/A
33 65x11113x3 KURO (NZ) Joseph Pride 56.5 N/A
34 62210x17x1 MIRACLES OF LIFE Peter & Paul Snowden 56.5 N/A
35 47x17520x8 NOSTRADAMUS Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes 56.5 N/A
36 27x85040x2 PERON Peter G Moody 56.5 N/A
37 114x10x3 RUBICK Gerald Ryan 56.5 N/A
38 729x12412x SWEET IDEA Gai Waterhouse 56.5 N/A
39 x1384x69x8 VILLA VERDE Anthony Cummings 56.5 104
40 x121119x43 AFLEET ESPRIT David Hayes & Tom Dabernig 54.5 N/A
41 313x18740x BRING ME THE MAID Peter G Moody 54.5 N/A
42 112x3318x0 EARTHQUAKE John O’Shea 54.5 N/A
43 1x1121x66 MOSSFUN Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes 54.5 105
44 x416744x01 PRESS REPORT Lee Curtis 54.5 75
45 114 SISTONIC David Hayes & Tom Dabernig 54.5 N/A
46 212×02 SUPARA Gai Waterhouse 54.5 71
47 x113213x17 TAWTEEN David Hayes & Tom Dabernig 54.5 N/A
48 1x11x13 WAWAIL David Hayes & Tom Dabernig 54.5 N/A

About The Author

Lucy Henderson

Lucy is an experienced horse racing journalist that has been a crucial member of the horseracing.com.au team for the better part of a decade. She has taken great delight in covering champion mares Black Caviar and Winx throughout their careers and always has a soft spot for a winning filly.