Red Anchor Stakes up for grabs with wide-open field

A competitive field of 11 colts and geldings will line up in the Group 3 Red Anchor Stakes (1200m) on Saturday afternoon at Moonee Valley in Melbourne, Australia.

Horse racing betting sites found it difficult to find an outright favourite but opted to open the Grahame Begg-trained Maharba as a +320 market elect.

The three-year-old gelding was a smart track-and-trip winner on September 29, getting the better of subsequent Caulfield winner Brave Mead.

A Listed winner at two, Maharba will be looking to add Group 3 success to his record for the first time and go one better than his runner-up effort in the Group 3 Pago Pago Stakes (1200m) earlier this year.

Michael Dee will once again team up with the Pride Of Dubai gelding, who will jump from barrier seven on Saturday.

Having chased home the likes of Ozzmosis and King’s Gambit in both runs of this campaign up in Sydney, the James Cummings-trained Barber will return to Melbourne in Saturday’s A$200,000 event.

The Exceed And Excel colt has not been seen in Melbourne since finishing ninth in the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m).

A winner of the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m), this will be Barber’s third start at this level, but he will need to overcome an awful record at 1200m (3: 0-0-0).

Schwarz and Le Parrain both bolted in on their debut at Gosford on October 5 and have been thrown into the deep end by their trainers at just their second starts.

The Red Anchor Stakes is the final race at Moonee Valley on Saturday, bringing a close to the 2023 Cox Plate Carnival.