Winterbottom Stakes winner Magnifisio has been included in the field for the 2014 Scahill Stakes that will be held at Ascot on Saturday.
Tommy Berry has been booked to ride Watermans Bay in the 2014 Scahill Stakes at Ascot this weekend. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Trainer Jim Taylor suggested after Magnifisio’s impressive win in the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) at Ascot on November 22 that he would give the five-year-old one more start before sending her to the spelling paddock and the Magnus mare looks well placed to record her third straight race win this weekend.
Magnifisio (barrier three) started her 2014 Perth Summer Racing Carnival campaign with a fourth place finish in the Group 3 Prince Of Wales Stakes (1200m) at Ascot on October 25 before she returned to winning form in the Group 2 Warora-Lee Steere Stakes (1400m) on November 8 and upset the likes of Angelic Light and Moment Of Change in the Winterbottom Stakes.
Watermans Bay (barrier eight) finished a close second behind Magnifisio in the Winterbottom Stakes and he will have the chance to turn-the-tables on his rivals in the Scahill Stakes this weekend.
Popular hoop Steven Arnold rode Watermans Bay in the Scahill Stakes, but leading Sydney jockey Tommy Berry has been booked to ride the Eternity Range gelding this weekend as he is in Perth to ride Pheidon in the 2014 Kingston Town Classic.
Testamezzo (barrier four) rounded out the Western Australian first four in the Winterbottom Stakes and has also been included in the Scahill Stakes field.
The Testa Rossa gelding is still chasing the maiden race win of his summer preparation after finishing second behind Shining Knight in the Group 3 Colonel Reeve Stakes (1100m) on November 4, but has previously won at Listed level in the Raconteur Stakes (1500m) at Ascot earlier this year.
The only horse out of Magnifisio that will be taking winning form into the Scahill Stakes this weekend is promising mare Antique Belle, who produced the best performance of her career to dare when she scored an upset win in the Listed Jungle Mist Classic (1200m) at Ascot on Super Saturday.
Antique Belle will be returning to Group level for the first time since she finished eighth behind Academus in the 2012 edition of the Group 2 Western Australian Guineas (1600m), while she finished third behind Fuddle Dee Duddle and Bippo No Bungus in the Group 3 Champion Fillies Stakes (1600m).
The 2014 Scahill Stakes field is rounded out by Amorino (barrier one), Express Service (barrier two), Kalahaar (barrier seven), Senhor Da Gama (barrier nine) and Platinum Rocker (barrier five).
