Alizee heads entries for Group 2 Expressway
Triple Group One winner Alizee (red cap) heads the entries for the Group Two Expressway Stakes.
Star mare Alizee will have scant opposition in her defence of the Expressway Stakes with seven entries taken for the Group Two sprint over 1200 metres.
Alizee beat four class runners last year, with Le Romain second and 2018 winner Trapeze Artist fourth.
This time around, three-year-old colt Standout is expected to be the one trying to foil her bid on Saturday with the Gerald Ryan-trained colt catching the eye in his barrier trials.
He won a trial at Rosehill on January 14 and was a close second to Dreamforce at Randwick last week.
Alizee’s trainer James Cummings is keen to get the triple Group One winner up and running early.
“The racing gets pretty serious in February,” Cummings said.
“Quite a few of our good horses will be up and running in February and we’re doing our best to ensure they are ready to go fresh-up.”
The powerhouse Ciaron Maher/David Eustace stable is responsible for four of the 10 two-year-old fillies entered for the Group Three Widden Stakes (1100m).
Magic Millions winner Away Game, last-start Randwick winner Cellsabeel, Goddess and Shahi are entered while Anthony Cummings has nominated Philizzy.
Cellsabeel is the ruling Golden Slipper favourite with no decision yet how she gets to the $3.5 million race on March 21.
She is also eligible for the $2 million Inglis Millennium at Warwick Farm on Saturday week but prize money from the sales-restricted race does not count towards the Slipper.
The Canonbury (1100m) for three-year-old colts and geldings attracted seven entries including the Maher/Eustace-trained Prague.
Standout’s stablemate Return With Honour is among the nominations with Ryan keen to forget his last-start seventh on a heavy track.
“He came through it well but he didn’t handle it,” Ryan said.
“We will look at the Canonbury and see what to do after that, whether Melbourne or Sydney.”
Before his wet-track failure, Return With Honour scored a stylish win on debut to prompt thoughts of a Blue Diamond campaign.