The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained Fabrizio has been installed the early favourite for the Group 2 $250,000 Villiers Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday.
Fabrizio, above, is the early favourite for the Villiers Stakes at Randwick. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Fabrizio is the winner of his last two starts and has been placed at the top of the market order at $2.60 with Ladbrokes.com.au and the ever confident Waterhouse can see the on pace runner as a future stable star.
While the Italian meaning for Fabrizio is ‘Craftsman’, Waterhouse said that Fabrizio is shaping up as another one of the stable’s iron horses.
Waterhouse’s multiple Group 1 winner Desert War was a tough, fierce competitor and dubbed an Iron Horse by the stable and while Fabizio has only had one attempt in Group 1 company for a tenth in the $1m Epsom (1600m) at Randwick during this year’s Sydney Spring Carnival, the Lady Trainer expects the High Chaparral five year old to make it in the top grade.
“He is a very exciting horse on the rise and he could end up being a Desert War, you never know,” Waterhouse told The Daily Telegraph.
“It’s a big ask to become a horse like Desert War but he has that iron-horse style.
“He has that resilience and toughness and will to win that you see in good horses.’’
After finishing tenth in the Epsom, Waterhouse and Bott dropped Fabrizio back in grade and he led all of the way to win a BenchMark 93 Handicap over the same course and distance as the Villiers Stakes and then raced on the pace again to win the Listed $150,000 James Boag’s Premium Stakes (1800m) at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day.
Fabrizio has won a 1030m Rosehill barrier trial on December 6 and Waterhouse said that he has done enough since his Flemington win to be very hard to beat in the Villiers Stakes.
“He will certainly give it a shake,” Waterhouse said.
“He is a horse that is really enjoying himself and doing well.
“He had some time out and he has come back and he has just been shooting the breeze.
“He has come to hand wonderfully well since his trial (last week).
“The Doncaster is the race I would love to see him running in and that is what running in the Villiers is leading us towards.”
The Group 1 $3m Doncaster Mile (1600m) is one of the feature races of 2017 Sydney Autumn Carnival and will be run at Randwick on April 1, the first day of the ‘The Championships’.
The Ciaron Maher trained Hazzabeel is on the second line of betting for the Villiers Stakes at $8 and is coming off a last start second to the Waterhouse and Bott trained Sweet Redemption in the Group 3 $150,000 The Steel Builders Festival Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill on December 3.
Queenslander Cylinder Beach is also high up in the market order at $8.50 but trainer Desleigh Forster said the four year old is likely to stay home and run in the Listed $100,000 Tailored Furniture Solutions Brisbane Handicap (1600m) at Doomben on Saturday.
Early market order for Villiers Stakes at Ladbrokes.com.au: $2.60 Fabrizio, $8 Hazzabeel, $8.50 Cylinder Beach, $9 Loyalty Man, $10 Amovatio, $11 Dibayani, Duca Valentinois, $12 High Midnight, $13 Big Memory, Sarrasin, Pajaro, $15 Moher, $16 Red Excitement, $17 Hopfgarten, $21 Kenjorwood, Man Of His Word, Rudy, $31 Centre Pivot, Malice, $51 Sense Of Occasion, $61 Berry Delicious, Reiby The Red, $126 Foreign Prince.
