Panzer Division is currently available at 2014 George Main Stakes odds of $4.80 and is a narrow favourite in betting for the Group 1 event at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
Panzer Division is currently on top of 2014 George Main Stakes betting markets. Photo by: Steve Hart
Panzer Division will be having just his fourth race start in the George Main Stakes and will be making his Group 1 debut, but will only have 50 and a half kilograms on his back under the weight-for-age conditions of the race.
The talented three-year-old opened at a quote of $7 in George Main Stakes betting markets, but has been very well-backed since the final field was released earlier this week and punters believe he is capable of becoming the first three-year-old to win the race since Viscount in 2001.
Royal Descent is currently on the second line of George Main Stakes betting markets and has remained steady at her opening quote of $5.
The Group 1 winning mare started her 2014 Spring Racing Carnival campaign with back-to-back second place finishes in the Group 2 Warwick Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick on August 23 and the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) at the same venue on September 6 and trainer Chris Waller has been delighted with the form of the Redoute’s Choice mare this preparation.
“There is a lot to like about her work,” Waller said.
“She is third-up coming off a spell, has two seconds and is a class act.”
Sacred Falls has also received a sprinkling of support in betting since the 2014 George Main Stakes field was released earlier this week and the Group 1 winner is now into $5.50 to record just his third race win in Australia.
Hong Kong-based jockey Zac Purton will return to Australia to partner Sacred Falls in the George Main Stakes and Waller believes that the five-year-old has the right profile heading into the $300,000 event.
“Sacred Falls has barrier one, Zac Purton on board and he is third-up from a spell, which is exactly the same method as the Doncaster,” Waller said.
“He had two fourths going into the Doncaster and he has two fourths going into the George Main, so we see how we go.”
The major drifter in betting has been talented mare Lucia Valentina, who is out to George Main Stakes odds of $5.50 after she opened as favourite on Wednesday afternoon.
Lucia Valentina stamped herself as a genuine 2014 Spring Racing Carnival contender with a most impressive victory in the Group 1 Tramway Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick on September 6, but trainer Kris Lees admitted yesterday that he was worried that the Savabeel mare would be unable to reproduce that performance second-up.
“I am just a little mindful that second-up last preparation was probably the worst of her four runs and we are just keeping that at the back of our minds,” Lees told Sky Racing HQ.
“It has been well documented that there is not a lot of her and she has a long way to go.
“This is the big test for her going to weight-for-age against better company again.
Chelmsford Stakes winner Hawkspur ($7.50) has drifted slightly in George Main Stakes betting, while the odds of Toydini ($10), Rising Romance ($12), Teronado ($14) and Gypsy Diamond ($31) have also increased in the last 24 hours.
