William Reid Stakes: A Look At The Group 1 Sprint

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Loving Gaby

WILLIAM REID STAKES

1200m, $500,000, Group One, weight-for-age at The Valley, run under lights

NOTABLE WINNERS:

Gothic (1929); Comic Court (1951); Flying Halo (1952/53/55); Dual Choice (1972); All Shot (1973/74); Manikato (1979/80/81/82/83); (1988); Hareeba (1995); Cape Of Good Hope (2005); Apache Cat (2008/09); Silent Sedition (2017); (2018); Sunlight (2019)

HISTORY:

  • First run in 1925 when won by The Night Patrol who also won the following year
  • Formerly known as the . Reverted to its original name, the , in 2010
  • Previously run in January
  • Group One since 1987
  • Manikato won the race five years in a row from 1979 to 1983
  • Champion Black Caviar won twice in 2011 and 2013 during her unbeaten career
  • Flamberge in 2016 was 's final winner before he retired from training
  • Melbourne's final Group One race for the season
  • The William Reid joins the Moir Stakes (September) and Manikato Stakes (October) as Melbourne's only Group One races run under lights

TALKING POINTS:

  • The field of 11 contains seven Group One winners – Scales Of Justice, , , Pippie, Bivouac, and
  • Sunlight (2019) became the first three-year-old filly to win since Virage De Fortune in 2006. Loving Gaby is only three-year-old filly this year
  • Loving Gaby is attempting to win the Manikato Stakes/William Reid Stakes double in the same season
  • Scales Of Justice won the Australia Stakes in January

WHAT THE KEY PLAYERS ARE SAYING:

  • “She's still a three-year-old filly but she is one of the best sprinters we have in the land and she feels furnished” – Loving Gaby's Craig Williams
  • “She probably won't get the 1200 metres if she runs the times she did early in the Oakleigh Plate, so we'll restrain her a touch” – Pippie's co-trainer Chris Meagher
  • “He'll turn up on Friday night and if he likes the track he'll go well and if he doesn't like The Valley he probably won't go well” – Gytrash's trainer Gordon Richards
  • “I guess it does open the door to be snookered inside and not get out, it has actually happened to him before” – jockey Hugh Bowman on barrier one for favourite Bivouac

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