Whispered Secret will attempt the Fernhill Handicap/Champagne Stakes double
CHAMPAGNE STAKES FOR TWO-YEAR-OLDS AT RANDWICK:
HISTORY:
* First run over seven furlongs (1400m) in 1866 when won by Fishhook
* Held over 1600m since 1972
* The final leg of the two-year-old triple crown after the Golden Slipper Stakes and ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes
* Outstanding gallopers to have won the race include: Furious (1921), Heroic (1924), Manfred (1925), Hall Mark (1933), Ajax (1937), Todman (1957), Wiggle (1958), Noholme (1959), Sky High (1960), Time And Tide (1963), Storm Queen (1966), Vain (1969), Baguette (1970), Luskin Star (1977), Red Anchor (1984), Bounding Away (1986), Triscay (1990) and Pierro (2012)
* Youngsters who have claimed the juvenile triple crown: Pierro (2012), Dance Hero (2004), Burst (1992), Tierce (1991), Luskin Star (1977) and Baguette (1970)
* There will be no triple crown this year with Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign in the spelling paddock
TALKING POINTS:
* Whispered Secret will attempt the Fernhill Handicap/Champagne Stakes double achieved last year by her James Cummings-trained stablemate Prized Icon, the first horse since Dracula in 1998 to win using that path
* 25 winners since 1983 have come through the Sires’ Produce
KEY COMMENTS:
* Going up to a mile is always a little bit of a concern but he’s got a very relaxed demeanour about him” Invader’s co-trained Paul Snowden.
* “Our horse has come through his only two runs really well and I think the mile looks like it would really suit him. I don’t think we’ve got anything to lose” Aberro’s trainer Matt Laurie.
