The world’s top three sprinters are primed for a showdown in the Newmarket Handicap with the added attraction of three-year-old Brazen Beau.
Lankan Rupee, Terravista, Chautauqua and Brazen Beau headline what seems will be one of the smallest fields assembled for the Group One race down the Flemington straight on Saturday.
Terravista – Newmarket Handicap 2015
Terravista joined Lankan Rupee at the top of the world rankings when he won the Darley Classic in the spring.
Lankan Rupee was pipped for second in that race by Chautauqua but showed his quality with a dominant first-up win in the Lightning Stakes over Brazen Beau a week after Chautauqua returned with a Group Two win in the Rubiton Stakes.
Terravista will be trying to become the first horse in almost 100 years to win the Newmarket first-up and his trainer Joe Pride admits it can be hard to gauge his progress.
“He is a relaxed customer and not a great track worker but he brings it on race day,” Pride said.
“He is the same as he was before he went to Melbourne in the spring so I will be guided by that.”
Just to make sure he remembers what it’s all about, Pride has taken Terravista to the races for the past two Saturdays to soak up the atmosphere.
He had a short walk to the Warwick Farm race day stalls on Chipping Norton Stakes day and went across town to Randwick for the Guineas meeting.
“I just wanted to get rid of a few race day nerves and give him a float trip away,” Pride said.
“He goes down to Melbourne on Thursday.”
Brazen Beau will be ridden by Hong Kong premiership leader Joao Moreira who rode him to win the Group One Coolmore Classic.
The Newmarket may well be Brazen Beau’s last start in Australia with the colt heading to the Royal Ascot meeting in June.
After his Group One win, Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Stud bought Brazen Beau to join the stallion roster.
Watermans Bay, Driefontein, Delectation and Aeronautical are the other likely starters.
