NZB Caulfield Spring WFA Championship Kicks Off
16 August 2017
A star-studded field will clash in Saturday’s A$200,000 Group 2 Charge Of The Light Horse P.B. Lawrence Stakes (1400m), the first of four races in the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Caulfield Spring WFA Championship.
The 14-horse line-up features no fewer than eight individual Group 1 winners – Lankan Rupee (Redoute’s Choice), Hartnell (Authorized), Black Heart Bart (Blackfriars), Gailo Chop (Deportivo), Humidor (NZ) (Teofilo), He’s Our Rokkii (NZ) (Roc de Cambes), Abbey Marie (Redoute’s Choice) and Montoya’s Secret (High Chaparral).
Tosen Stardom (Deep Impact) and Star Exhibit (Statue Of Liberty) have been Group 1-placed.
The race will be run as Race 7 and will start at 4:00pm (6:00pm NZT).
The winner of Saturday’s race will pick up 10 Championship Points, with 8 for second, 6 for third, 4 for fourth, 3 for fifth and 1 each for horses placed sixth, seventh and eighth.
The remaining races in the NZB Caulfield Spring Championship Series are the A$1m Group 1 New Zealand Bloodstock Memsie Stakes (1400m) on September 2, the A$750,000 Group 1 Hyland Race Colours Underwood Stakes (1800m) on October 1 and the A$1m Group 1 Ladbrokes Caulfield Stakes (2000m) on October 14.
| # | Horse | Draw | Comments | Trainer | Jockey |
| 1 | Lankan Rupee | 2 | Formerly the world's highest-ranked sprinter, the now eight-year-old Lankan Rupee (Redoute's Choice) has been restricted to four starts in the last two years due to injury. At his best he is one of the classiest horses in this field. | Mick Price | Craig Newitt |
| 2 | Hartnell | 9 | Godolphin galloper Hartnell (Authorized) has won 10 races including the Group 1 BMW and Turnbull Stakes, while he placed in last season's Cox Plate, Melbourne Cup, Ranvet Stakes and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. This is his first start at Caulfield, and his first start for new Godolphin trainer James Cummings. | James Cummings | Craig Williams |
| 3 | Black Heart Bart | 5 | Warhorse Black Heart Bart (Blackfriars) won last year's NZB Spring WFA Championship, winning the Group 1 Memsie Stakes and Underwood Stakes and running second to the champion Winx in the Caulfield Stakes. He has won a total of 16 races, five at Group 1 level, for more than A$3.4 million in prizemoney. | Darren Weir | Brad Rawiller |
| 4 | Tosen Stardom | 13 | Former Japanese horse Tosen Stardom (Deep Impact) has had three starts from Darren Weir's stable and has already made an impression, finishing second in the Group 1 Futurity Stakes and Group 2 Blamey Stakes earlier this year. The Futurity was over the same course and distance as this race. | Darren Weir | Ben Allen |
| 5 | Gailo Chop | 10 | Winner of the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes in 2015, Gailo Chop (Deportivo) is lining up for his first start since March 2016. | Darren Weir | Mark Zahra |
| 6 | Humidor | 3 | Formerly a Group 1 performer for Kiwi trainers Johno Benner and Hollie Wynyard, the New Zealand-bred and owned Humidor (NZ) (Teofilo) is now trained by Darren Weir, who saddled him to win this year's Group 1 Australian Cup and run second in the Group 1 BMW. | Darren Weir | Damian Lane |
| 7 | Star Exhibit | 6 | Group 2 Perth Cup winner Star Exhibit (Statue Of Liberty) is a Listed winner over this course and distance, and in his last start the gelding finished second in the Group 1 Doomben Cup. | Darren Weir | John Allen |
| 8 | He's Our Rokkii | 4 | Fourth at Group 1 level in New Zealand from the stable of Mark Forbes, He's Our Rokkii (NZ) (Roc De Cambes) won last year's Group 1 Toorak Handicap for new trainers David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig. He has won a total of seven races, three of them at Caulfield. | David & Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig | Dwayne Dunn |