Stellar Field For $1m New Zealand Bloodstock Memsie Stakes
30 August 2017
The 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Caulfield Spring Weight-For-Age Championship heats up on Saturday with the running of the second leg, the A$1m Group 1 New Zealand Bloodstock Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield.
The prizemoney for the NZB Memsie Stakes has doubled this year from A$500,000 to A$1m – a move that has been rewarded with a sensational field for the first Group One race of the 2017-18 Australian racing season.
Hartnell (Authorized) won the first leg of the Series, the A$200,000 PB Lawrence Stakes on August 19, but is bypassing Saturday’s race. A stellar cast of proven elite performers will be out to move up the points table in his absence.
Nine of the 12 runners are Group 1 winners, including last year’s winner Black Heart Bart (Blackfriars) and the high-class Karaka graduates Jon Snow (NZ) (Iffraaj) and I Am A Star (NZ) (I Am Invincible).
The Series will have a new leader if either Charmed Harmony (8 points, 2nd in Leg 1) or Black Heart Bart (6 points, 3rd in Leg 1) finish in the first three on Saturday, while a Memsie Stakes win by Tosen Stardom (3 points, 5th in Leg 1) or Humidor (1 point, 6th in Leg 1) would send them to the top of the table.
The NZB Memsie Stakes will be run as Race 7 with a start time of 4:10pm (6:10pm NZT).
| # | Horse | Draw | Comments | Trainer | Jockey |
| 1 | Black Heart Bart | 5 | Weight-for-age warrior Black Heart Bart (Blackfriars) has won five Group 1 races, including the 2016 Memsie Stakes. He resumed with an encouraging third in the PB Lawrence Stakes, and he has a better record second-up. Victory would take his career prizemoney earnings past A$4 million. | Darren Weir | Brad Rawiller |
| 2 | Le Romain | 6 | Winner of the Group 1 Randwick Guineas as a three-year-old, Le Romain (Hard Spun) confirmed his class as an older horse with victory in last year's Group 1 Cantala Stakes. Will appreciate the extra distance following his first-up second in the Group 2 Missile Stakes over 1200m. | Kris Lees | Ben Melham |
| 3 | Tosen Stardom | 4 | An accomplished performer in his birthplace Japan, Tosen Stardom (Deep Impact) has yet to win in six Australian starts but has recorded three placings including the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes and Futurity Stakes. In the Futurity Stakes, over the same course and distance as the Memsie, he was beaten by a nose by Black Heart Bart. Tosen Stardom was a first-up fifth in the PB Lawrence Stakes. | Darren Weir | Blake Shinn |
| 4 | Humidor | 11 | Bred, owned and formerly trained in New Zealand, Humidor (NZ) (Teofilo) was Group 1-placed at Hastings before joining the stable of Darren Weir, who guided him to Group 1 glory in the Australian Cup earlier this year. Nominated for the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup and likely to need longer distances. | Darren Weir | Mark Zahra |
| 5 | Vega Magic | 3 | Vega Magic (Lope de Vega) has won 11 of his 16 career starts including his last three in a row. He won the Group 1 Goodwood in Adelaide in May and is a last-start Listed winner at this course. | David & Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig | Craig Williams |
| 6 | Charmed Harmony | 2 | One of the few horses in the field not to have won at Group 1 level, Charmed Harmony (Hussonet) earned his place in the field with a strong last-start second to Hartnell in the PB Lawrence Stakes. In the process, the eight-year-old beat Memsie Stakes rivals Black Heart Bart, Tosen Stardom and Humidor. | John Sadler | Katelyn Mallyon |
| 7 | Jon Snow | 10 | Along with Gingernuts and Bonneval, Jon Snow (NZ) (Iffraaj) was part of an outstanding Kiwi raid on the Sydney autumn carnival. After a string of big-race placings in New Zealand, he travelled across the Tasman and won the Group 2 Tulloch Stakes and Group 1 Australian Derby. The distance of the Memsie Stakes is short of his best as he builds towards the Caulfield Cup, but connections hope to see him find the line strongly. | Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman | Stephen Baster |
| 8 | Hey Doc | 1 | Hey Doc (Duporth) was third in the Caulfield Guineas last spring, and he went on to win the Group 1 Australian Guineas at Flemington. The Tony McEvoy-trained runner resumed with an eye-catching win in the Group 3 Aurie's Star Handicap at Flemington on August 12. | Tony McEvoy | Luke Currie |
| 9 | Seaburge | 12 | Another placegetter in last year's Caulfield Guineas, Seaburge (Sebring) went on to run second in the A$2 million Group 1 Emirates Stakes. This is his first start since he failed to cope with the heavy track in the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas on March 18, but he placed in a recent trial at Cranbourne. | David & Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig | Regan Bayliss |
| 10 | Single Gaze | 9 | Single Gaze (Not a Single Doubt) was a Group 1 winner of the Vinery Stud Stakes as a three-year-old, and after a number of setbacks she returned to that form during the Queensland winter carnival, winning the Group 2 PJ O'Shea Stakes and placing in the Group 1 Doomben Cup and Group 2 Brisbane Cup and Hollindale Stakes. Likely to find this distance short of her best, but won a recent trial at Canberra. | Nick Olive | Kathy O'Hara |
| 11 | I Am A Star | 7 | Bought for just $12,000 at Karaka as a weanling, I Am A Star (NZ) (I Am Invincible) has won six races and more than A$1 million in prizemoney. She beat older mares to win last year's Group 1 Myer Classic, and she also placed in the Group 1 Thousand Guineas and Ubet Classic. Won the Group 2 Kewney Stakes over this distance in March. | Shane Nichols | Luke Nolen |
| 12 | Yankee Rose | 8 | Yankee Rose (All American) has taken her big syndicate of owners on an amazing ride, placing in the Golden Slipper and Cox Plate and winning the Group 1 Sires' Produce Stakes and Spring Champion Stakes. This is her first start back from a long lay-off, having battled foot issues since finishing outside the placings in the VRC Oaks last November. | David Vandyke | Dean Yendall |