2017 Railway Stakes champion Great Shot is amongst the record number of Group One nominations
A record number of interstate/international gallopers, including two trained by legendary Irish horseman Aidan O’Brien, have nominated for the three Group One races of The TABtouch Masters, the world’s only single-track thoroughbred racing festival featuring a Group One event worth at least $1m on three consecutive Saturdays, which will take place at Ascot Racecourse from 24 November.
Eighty-four horses, including 13 Group One winners and 55 interstate gallopers, have nominated for the $1m Kirin-Railway Stakes, which will be run over 1,600 metres at Ascot Racecourse on Saturday 24 November. Sixty-five horses, including seven Group One winners and 45 interstate/international gallopers, have nominated for the $1m Crown Perth-Winterbottom Stakes, which will be run over 1,200m at Ascot Racecourse on Saturday 1 December. And 102 horses, including 14 Group One winners and 51 interstate gallopers, have nominated for the $1m Magic Millions-Kingston Town Classic, which will be run over 1,800m at Ascot Racecourse on Saturday 8 December.
Twenty unique Group One winners are among The TABtouch Masters nominations, including former Railway Stakes champions Good Project (2015), Scales Of Justice (2016) and Great Shot (2017) and former Winterbottom Stakes champions Takedown (2016) and Viddora (2017) and former Kingston Town Classic champion Ihtsahymn (2013). Now with Darren Weir, Takedown has been nominated for the Railway Stakes and the Kingston Town Classic instead of the Winterbottom Stakes.
“The interstate/international nominations for The TABtouch Masters have risen from 109 last year to 151 this year,” said Professor John Yovich AM, Managing Director of Perth Racing, which operates an innovative incentive scheme to encourage top-quality horses to travel to Western Australia.
“I’m looking forward to each of the three Group One races of The TABtouch Masters but we are set for a particularly fascinating edition of the Crown Perth-Winterbottom Stakes with a record number of nominations for Australia’s last major sprint of the year, seven visiting Group One winners in the mix and the Winx of the West, unbeaten mare Enticing Star, targeting the 1,200m contest.”
Nominations also closed today for the $500,000 Sky Racing-WA Guineas over 1,600m at Group Two level at Ascot Racecourse on 24 November. Eighty-three horses, including 32 interstate gallopers, have nominated for the WA Guineas, which is the support act to the Kirin-Railway Stakes.
The full list of nominations will be live on Racing and Wagering Western Australia’s CRIS website (https://www.rwwa.com.au/cris/) shortly.