A suspension to Damien Oliver has given fellow champion jockey Craig Williams the chance to reunite with Vega Magic who is favourite for the first Group One race of the season at Caulfield.
Williams rode former Perth sprinter Vega Magic to victory in the Group One Goodwood in Adelaide in May in the gelding’s first start for the Lindsay Park stable of trainers David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig.
He is back aboard in Saturday’s $1 million Memsie Stakes (1400m).
Oliver steered Vega Magic to a first-up win in the Listed Regal Roller Stakes two weeks ago at Caulfield before starting a 14-meeting careless riding suspension which rules him out of Saturday.
Vega Magic, the winner of 11 of his 16 starts, is the $2.60 favourite for the weight-for-age Memsie and Williams believes he’s on the right horse for the first Group One race of spring.
“I’m really excited to ride Vega Magic,” Williams said.
“He’s favourite for a reason. He’s got the right form. He’s drawn nicely and he’s going to take a power of beating.
“The last time I rode him was when he was successful in the Goodwood and I saw his performance the other day and I’m really looking forward to reuniting with him.”
Oliver is disappointed to have to sit out Memsie Stakes day and believes Vega Magic is the deserved favourite.
“I would much rather be out there riding him, but it’s not to be,” Oliver said.
Oliver returns from suspension on Sunday.
Last year’s winner Black Heart Bart, another former West Australian, shares the second line of betting at $6.
Racing Victoria stewards reported on Friday that the Darren Weir-trained gelding has a late gear change.
Black Heart Bart will have a three-quarter bar plate on his near fore hoof because of minor bruising to his heel, with the shoeing recommended by his farrier but the stable reported the horse had worked as normal.
Chief steward Terry Bailey said Black Heart Bart would undergo a raceday veterinary inspection as part of standard procedure because of the shoeing change.
“Given the stable had the need to make the shoeing change, we’d want to check him over to make sure he’s 100 per cent,” Bailey said.
Black Heart Bart is a three-time Group One winner over the 1400m at Caulfield and is striving to become the first horse since Sunline in 2001 to win back-to-back Memsie Stakes.
