Oliver with chance at first Railway win
Damien Oliver has failed to add to his Group One tally during the Melbourne spring carnival but heads to his home state of Western Australia with the chance to win his first Railway Stakes.
Oliver has won more than 100 Group One races and rides Mackintosh in the $1 million Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot on Saturday, chasing his first elite-level win this season.
Oliver missed the Cox Plate meeting and Derby Day at Flemington becasue of a 20-meeting reckless riding suspension which cost him the ride on Flying Artie who won the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes.
Mackintosh has been well-performed in the eastern states this spring, winning the Group Two Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) first-up before finishing third in the Group One Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick.
He then finished a close fifth in the Group One Cantala Stakes over 1600m at Flemington and has 54kg in Saturday’s Railway.
Mackintosh’s weight is at the low-end of Oliver’s range.
“But I’ll do it,” Oliver said.
“I think he’s a great chance, so 54 I can do. But that’s about my lowest.”
Oliver, 44, has been based in Melbourne since he was an apprentice but hails from Western Australia and has had a number of rides in the Railway, one of Perth’s biggest races.
“I’d love to win it,” he said.