A strong field of 16 plus four emergencies will round off Melbourne Cup week at Flemington in Saturday's $1 million Group 1 Emirates Stakes (1600m).The trifecta's from both of the major Group 1 mile handicaps in Sydney and Melbourne this spring will line up on Saturday with the first three home in both the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) and Group 1 Epsom Handicap accepting for Saturday's Emirates.The Robert Heathcote trained Solzhenitsyn has drawn barrier 2 for the Emirates, with the two behind
A strong field of 16 plus four emergencies will round off Melbourne Cup week at Flemington in Saturday's $1 million Group 1 Emirates Stakes (1600m).
The trifecta's from both of the major Group 1 mile handicaps in Sydney and Melbourne this spring will line up on Saturday with the first three home in both the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) and Group 1 Epsom Handicap accepting for Saturday's Emirates.
The Robert Heathcote trained Solzhenitsyn has drawn barrier 2 for the Emirates, with the two behind him in the Toorak Spirit Song and Yosei drawing barriers 12 and 8 respectively.
Gai Waterhouse's Epsom Handicap winner Fat Al has drawn in barrier 5 for the feature mile handicap while runner-up Ambidexter is in 7 with third place-getter Rolling Pin out in barrier 19.
Other key Emirates runners include the trio of Group 1 winning mares Streama, Secret Admirer and Pear Tart who will all be looking to improve on their efforts in last week's Group 1 Myer Classic as well as the Paul Beshara trained Happy Trails who lines up after finishing unplaced in the Cox Plate.
Another highlight on the Flemington card Saturday is the $250,000 Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) which features a $100,000 bonus for any horse balloted out of Tuesday's Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m).
Of the final field of 14 in this year's Queen Elizabeth, nine are eligible for the bonus including internationals Lost in the Moment and Shahwardi as well as 2010 Queen Elizabeth winner Moudre, the Team Williams pair of Excluded and Tanby and Bart Cummings' unlucky Lexus Stakes (2500m) runner-up Dare To Dream.
A field of 10 mares will greet the starter in Saturday's $300,000 Group 2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m) headed by New Zealand Derby winner Silent Achiever who impressively came from last to win the Group 2 Crystal Mile at her latest effort.
She is joined in the field by Group 1 Schweppes Oaks winner Invest, Cranbourne Cup victor Midnight Martini, last start Tatt's Cup winner Crafty Irna and Kasane who backs up after her impressive victory at Flemington on Tuesday.
Impressive Inglis Banner winner Crack A Roadie headlines a field of 12 in Saturday's $150,000 Group 3 Maribyrnong Stakes (1200m) for the two-year-olds which also includes the Inglis Banner place-getters Diva Dee and Shamus Award.
Runaway Adelaide winner Excites Zelady creates significant interest as do the five first-starters who represent stables including the powerful David Hayes, Peter Moody and Mick Price teams.
The $150,000 Listed Hilton Hotels Stakes (1400m) for the three-year-olds features a highly competitive field of 15 horses including four from the powerful Peter Snowden stable.
Another race not to be missed is the $100,000 Momentum Energy Trophy (1600m) where the David Hayes trained import Why Not makes its Australian debut against the likes of Peter Snowden's Galah and the Anthony Cummings trained Strike the Stars.
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