Trainer David Vandyke will have to wait a bit longer to win his second Group 1 trophy after short priced favourite Yankee Rose was scratched this morning from Saturday’s Group 1 $500,000 Moet & Chandon Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Randwick.
Yankee Rose has been scratched from the Champagne Stakes at Randwick. Photo by Steve Hart.
Yankee Rose had been under an injury cloud since Wednesday morning after pulling off a shoe from her off-fore hoof and sustaining bruising to her near-fore hoof.
Vandyke had been treating the minor injuries and was confident the filly would be fit to take her place in the field on Saturday but Chief Racing NSW Veterinary Surgeon Dr Craig Suann had inspected her several times since Wednesday and today ruled her out.
In a press statement released by Racing New South Wales, Dr Suann states that Yankee Rose had not made enough improvement for him to pass her fit to run on Saturday.
“Dr Suann reported that whilst the tenderness to the near fore hoof had made improvement, that such improvement was not to the degree necessary to allow Yankee Rose to perform at its best in Saturday’s race,” the press release read.
Yankee Rose was a raging hot $1.50 favourite for the Champagne Stakes when officially scratched at 10.04am on Friday morning leaving a field of ten to go around in the Group 1 for the two year olds.
Yankee Rose looked to have a mortgage on winning the Champagne Stakes after providing Vandyke with his first Group 1 win when she raced away to score a two and a half lengths win in the Group 1 $1m Inglis Sires’ (1400m) at Randwick on day one of ‘The Championships’ on April 2.
That win followed the All American filly’s first up second to Capitalist in the Group 1 $3.5m Longines Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill a fortnight earlier.
The scratching of Yankee Rose has turn the one horse race into a very open affair with six of the ten runners under $10 at Ladbrokes.com.au.
The John O’Shea trained Obscura is the new favourite at $4 just ahead of last Saturday’s Fernhill Handicap winner Prized Icon at $4.20 and the Team Hawkes trained Divine Prophet at $5.50.
Champagne Stakes market order at Ladbrokes.com.au: $4 Obscura, $4.20 Prized Icon, $5.50 Divine Prophet, $7 Faraway Town, $7.50 El Sicario, $8.50 Chimboraa, $18 Crown Him, $21 Jaws Off Steel, $31 Pop, $51 North Sky.
