Star young New Zealand trainer Jamie Richards could be in for a stellar Saturday down under saddling-up two class mares in the top two races in the country – Probabeel in the Cox Plate and Entriviere who starts favourite in Sydney’s $2 million The Invitation.

A field of 13 face off under the lights at Moonee Valley on Friday night for the Group 1 $1 million Ladbrokes Manikato Stakes (1200m) and it is one of the most open editions of the Cox Plate Carnival sprint in recent years.

The Annabel Neasham-trained Zaaki remains the short-priced favourite ahead of Saturday’s $5 million Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley. The dual Group 1 winner came up trumps in gate 6 as he looks to bounce-back from a shock last-start defeat in the Neds Might and Power Stakes two weeks ago at Caulfield. The star stayer got into as short as $2.60 in Ladbrokes’ All-In Cox Plate market when he resumed to win the Tramway, followed by an even more impressive performance second-up in the Underwood when he gapped his rivals by two lengths.

Peter Moody can finally add a Caulfield Cup to his mantlepiece following Incentivise’s remarkable win in Saturday’s $5 million feature. The dual Group 1 winner was at short odds to win the Cup ever since he resumed to win the Makybe Diva Stakes last month at Flemington, and that price only grew shorter after the son of Shamus Award made it a double with another impressive win in the Turnbull Stakes three weeks later. The Moody-trained gelding got into $2.30 with Ladbrokes bookmakers, up against a capacity field of stayers hoping to win the time-honoured race. With a wet track…

Six-time Group 1 winner Nature Strip added another notch to his belt at Randwick on Saturday by taking out the fifth edition of The Everest. The $15 million feature had eluded Australia’s top sprinter in each of the lats two seasons, but the $3.70 favourite managed to get the job done by the narrowest of margins thanks to another superb ride from long-time hoop James McDonald. “It is the only one that has been alluding him. He’s been a consistent performer all the way through,” McDonald said after the win.

Art Cadeau continued his winning ways at Randwick on Saturday by claiming the $1.3 million Kosciuszko (1200m) in his first run back from a spell. Terry Robinson’s classy gelding made it four wins from his last four starts, in large part thanks to another peach from the in-form Tommy Berry. After winning the Country Championship in his one and only start during the autumn, Art Cadeau returned the $3.90 favourite in the capacity field with a win over 1200m under his belt. Berry chose to box-seat in behind the speed, a move that proved to be a winning one as…