C F ORR STAKES
1400m, $500,000, weight-for-age
HISTORY
* First run in 1925 when won The Patrol
* Run at Group One level from 1993
* Weight-for-age with penalties from 1925-1942. Handicap 1943-45. Weight-for-age since
* First run at Williamstown until 1940. Also run at Moonee Valley and Flemington. Sandown from 1966-1996. Caulfield 1997 onwards
NOTABLE WINNERS
* Heroic (1927); Flight (1946); Rising Fast (1956); Lord (1959-60); Tobin Bronze (1967); All Shot (1974); Leilani (1975); Hyperno (1978); Manikato (1979-80-81); Vo Rogue (1988-89-90); Saintly (1997); Redoute’s Choice (2000); Lonhro (2004); Typhoon Tracy (2010-2011); Black Caviar (2012); All Too Hard (2013)
TALKING POINTS
* The first Group One race of the Melbourne autumn carnival
* Black Heart Bart will be attempting to repeat his 2016 victory
* Luke Nolen with be chasing Michael Clarke’s record of five wins when he rides Abbey Marie
* The Orr Stakes was an autumn starting point for Melbourne Cup winners from the previous spring including winners Comic Court (1951), Rising Fast (1956), At Talaq (1987), Let’s Elope (1992), Jeune (1995) and Saintly (1997)
WHAT THE KEY PLAYERS ARE SAYING:
“He’s one that has sort of come out of left field but I reckon he’s going all right. This is obviously his biggest test to date to actually see if he’s a genuine Group One horse but he gets his chance” – Thronum’s jockey Mark Zahra
“She is a good fresh horse and was unlucky when she raced at Caulfield last spring” – Shillelagh’s trainer Chris Waller
“I wish the meeting was at Sandown like it used to be as for her it would be a much better track” – Abbey Marie’s trainer Mick Kent
“If Black Heart Bart just gets the good run, he’s a terribly hard horse to get past” – trainer Darren Weir
