Prince Harada Included In 2013 Golden Rose Final Field

Prince Harada is one of seventeen horses included in the final field for the Group 1 Golden Rose (1400m), which will be run at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, after connections paid the $50,000 late entry fee for the talented colt.

Prince Harada

Prince Harada is expected to start the Golden Rose as favourite after connections paid the late entry fee to qualify him for the field. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Prince Harada burst into Golden Rose contention with two impressive victories at Ballarat and Moonee Valley before stamping himself as the favourite for the $1 million race with an unlucky second place finish behind Fast ‘N’ Rocking in the Group 3 McNeil Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield last Saturday.

Trainer Tony Vasil has been brimming with praise for the son of Haradasun since he made his debut and told The Age that he has come out of the McNeil Stakes well and is ready for his trip to Sydney for his first attempt at Group 1 level.

“I couldn’t fault him, he looks great and we will leave more than likely on Thursday afternoon,” Vasil said.

“It’s a 10-hour trip but everything is going well.”

While Golden Slipper winner Overreach will not be contesting the race, leading Sydney trainer Gai Waterhouse is giving herself every possibly opportunity to win the event for the first time with five horses (Aussies Love Sport, Pitcrew, War, Marseille Roulette and Bull Point) in the final field.

Aussies Love Sport looks to be Waterhouse’s leading chance in the race after he followed his maiden victory with an impressive win in the Group 3 Ming Dynasty Quality (1400m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday.

Premiership winning trainer Peter Moody will also have multiple runners in the race (Dissident and Thermal Current) as will Anthony Cummings, with Cluster (who is yet to break his maiden) joining the impressive Drago in the final field.

Peter Snowden is the only trainer to win the Golden Rose on three occasions and he will be represented in the 2013 edition of the race by Golden Slipper runner-up Sidestep.

Sidestep was one of the favourites for the Golden Rose after he finished an unlucky fourth behind Va Pensiero in the Group 3 San Domenico Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill Gardens on August 17 but has drifted significantly in the market after he finished at the tail of the field in the Group 3 The Run To The Rose (1200m) at the same venue a fortnight ago.

Also backing up from The Run To The Rose will be Chris Waller-trained Zoustar, the consistent Windjammer, runner-up Dissident, Queensland based-Into The Red, Bart Cummings-trained Eurozone and Todman Stakes winner Criterion.

The 2013 Golden Rose barrier draw will be conducted at The Star Casino in Sydney at eleven o’clock.

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Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.