A soaring rating this campaign has earned consistent sprinter Waltzes a crack at his first feature race at Flemington.Warrnambool trainer Jarrod McLean said the five-year-old deserved his chance at Saturday's Listed Kensington Stakes (1000m) after jumping 17 rating points from 75 to 92 in his last three starts."He is in form at the moment and it looks a good option for him," McLean said."He has just kept taking the steps and only just got beaten last start."The winner of six of his 12 starts, Wa
A soaring rating this campaign has earned consistent sprinter Waltzes a crack at his first feature race at Flemington.
Warrnambool trainer Jarrod McLean said the five-year-old deserved his chance at Saturday's Listed Kensington Stakes (1000m) after jumping 17 rating points from 75 to 92 in his last three starts.
"He is in form at the moment and it looks a good option for him," McLean said.
"He has just kept taking the steps and only just got beaten last start."
The winner of six of his 12 starts, Waltzes will be ridden for the first time by Damien Oliver.
The son of Bel Esprit has opened at $15 with TAB Sportsbet for Saturday's straight-course event while interstate sprinters Stirling Grove from Adelaide and Sydney's Cardinal Virtue lead the market at $2.80 and $6.50 respectively.
This campaign Waltzes won his first two starts at Moonee Valley over 955m and 1000m and last start was on the losing end of a three-way photo when bloused by the fast-finishing Silver Bullion and Big Spirit in near record time.
Both horses are again among Waltzes' rivals on Saturday with Big Spirit at $11 and Silver Bullion at $17.
McLean's last Kensington Stakes runner was Juggle The Books who finished fourth to Secret Flyer in 2009 but he rates Waltzes a superior sprinter.
"Waltzes is a lot faster than Juggle The Books but we might have bumped into a stronger field this year," McLean said.
He said the only time Waltzes had missed a top-four finish was when he bled on Cranbourne Cup day two years ago.
"I think he (Waltzes) is going to run well on Saturday but he is up against some good-credentialled horses," McLean said.
Three-year-old Stirling Grove has won four of his eight starts and was spelled after he landed the Schweppes Tonic (1000m) at his only Flemington run on Melbourne Cup day.
Cardinal Virtue has been a consistent stakes performer this campaign with a third in the Group Two Premiere Stakes at Rosehill and Listed race placings at Randwick in the Lightning Handicap and Carrington Stakes.
Grand Duels is again at the generous odds of $8.50 after winning his last two starts including the Christmas Stakes at $19.
Waltzes could be part of a big day for Slade Bloodstock with the syndication operation also having nice chances with the Mark Kavanagh-trained stablemates Imperial Command ($6) in the Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria Plate (1410m) and King Diamond ($5) in the Australia Remembers Handicap (1800m).