King’s Gambit heads Oakleigh Plate betting in 15-strong field

February 21, 2024 4:39 pm.

King’s Gambit has opened as the race favourite for the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield on Saturday. (Photo: Racing NSW)

The Group 1 Oakleigh Plate is shaping up to be the most intriguing race at Caulfield on Saturday afternoon.

As usual, the field for the $750,000 contest is near capacity, with 15 sprinters set to clash in the time-honoured handicap feature.

The lone three-year-old in the race, King’s Gambit, has opened as a +320 favourite with top horse racing betting sites.

The Peter & Paul Snowden-trained colt will only carry 50kg and will resume from a 20-week spell after he was last seen winning the Group 2 Roman Consul Stakes at Rosehill in October last year.

After being beaten as an odds-on favourite fresh in the Group 2 Rubiton Stakes, Asfoora will push onto the Oakleigh Plate and has opened on the second line of betting at +450.

The Henry Dwyer-trained mare will have to carry 57.5kg due to her handicap rating of 111, but her track and distance record (4:3-1-0) speaks for itself and she is expected to run well again.

Sghirripa (+800) has earned his spot in the Oakleigh Plate after winning both the Listed Christmas Stakes and Group 3 Standish Stakes over the summer.

Similarly to Sghirripa, the Robbie Griffiths & Mathew de Kock-trained Rey Magnerio (+850) has rocketed into contention for this race after winning six of his first nine starts, and he will only have to carry 52kg.

Jason Warren’s star mare Benedetta (+900) will kick off her autumn preparation in the Oakleigh Plate and has been somewhat forgotten in the market.

The daughter of Hellbent has only missed the placings once in her 10 starts, and one of her six wins came in the Group 3 Cockram Stakes at the same track and trip that she will face on Saturday.

There is heaps of value to be found beyond the top few runners, with the likes of Kallos (+1400), Hypothetical (+1200), Recommendation (+1500) and Skew Wiff (+2600) representing great value at double figures.

The Oakleigh Plate is scheduled to jump at 4:55pm AEDT and will be race nine on the Caulfield program.