Preview: Gr.2 Premiere Stakes

It is a solid bona fida Group 2 in its own right but in recent seasons it has become one of the prep races for The Everest and is now part of the Sydney Sprint Series. One interesting fact is that in the five runnings of The Everest, no Premiere Stakes winner has gone on to win it although last year’s winner Masked Crusader went close. Those stats seem to suggest that this may be used as more of a prep race than either The Concorde or The Shorts, partly because of its timing but also because the trainers may feel they have their horses ready without another prep run. As a counter to those stats, two Everest winners, Redzel in 2018 and Classique Legend in 2020 did run unplaced in The Premiere so it is worth watching this year’s race a few times to see if you can glean where any improvement could be coming from the runners involved.

At the time of writing, further runners could be added to the field, but we will concentrate on those entered so far and therefore more likely to run.

Lost And Running is the bookies’ favourite, and he was many people’s eyecatcher in The Shorts where he ran well to the line behind Nature Strip. We know that he stays further and being upped in trip can only aid his cause, but I’m not totally convinced he has that explosive kick that is needed to put the top-class races to bed, and he has yet to win above Group Three level. He will need to produce the form of his Southern Cross win at Randwick in February to justify favouritism and for that reason, he looks a skinny price for this race against two or three quality performers.

Mazu really needs to put in a top-class performance here if he is to show us that he is a serious Everest challenger. Peter Snowden is convinced the gelding is up there with the best and mentions him in the same breath as Redzel saying that they are very similar fast horses and once Mazu learns to settle better, he could be as good if not better as he should get a little further. With that lofty reputation, he has to be winning this or at least running the principals very close if he is to justify his place in the big race later in the month, although it has to be remembered that he is still only four and so has plenty of time ahead should he not reach those peaks this season. The positive for this race is that he will be much better suited by the step up to 1200m and that may enable us to see the real Mazu here, especially on the softer ground.

Overpass was backed for The Everest after his run in The Shorts, where he finished second. Just in front of Nature Strip turning into the straight, he kept tabs on him until late on and he was not knocked about by Rachel King who once he was beaten, clearly rode with a view to another day. He is sure to improve for that run and he has a phenomenal success rate second and third up after a break, so he has to be of interest in this race. He is obviously towards the top of the list of those Everest slot holders who have yet to confirm their horse and a good performance here will see him snapped up.  It was reported after The Shorts that he had lost a shoe during the race and finished a little lame, but his trainer Bjorn Baker has had plenty of time to work on that and as a 4YO he is open to any amount of improvement. He is a very interesting sprinter to watch for the rest of the Spring. 

Masked Crusader will be remembered for his strong late finish in The Everest last year, he had missed the break badly and was given time to get back into the race staying on with purpose. On watching the race a few times again, I cannot conclude that he was unlucky not to win and it is clear he was running through beaten horses although he would undoubtedly have been a player had he not fluffed his lines coming out of the barriers. Yet to win this calendar year, he is the one horse who needs to really up his game and throw in a big run, failure to do so will mean he will go to his main target The Everest in poor form and last year he was thriving before the race so connections must be a little concerned.

Apache Chase is a prolific winning gelding and having won the Gr.1 Kingsford-Smith Cup at Eagle Farm from Paulele, he is entitled to take his chance here. He has been nibbled at in the market early in the week so obviously, someone thinks he is overpriced but he would still be a surprise winner.

It’s Meis up in class and looks to have a lot to do, she was slightly unlucky in the run in a Group Two at Rosehill last time out but even had she won that day she would still face an uphill task here despite a small weight allowance.

Kementari is completely exposed having had 43 starts and he would be a bit of a shock winner despite the fact that he has won at Group One level. He will appreciate the trip but connections of the leading horses will be back to the drawing board if he gets his head in front at the line and many dreams would be squashed.

Private Eye hasn’t run since June but has had two recent trials to get him ready for this. He has been running in and has won a Group One race so this level should hold no fears for him but there is a suspicion that he is better over further and it seems like connections are following up on his Group Three win here two runs back over the sprint trip, to see if they do have a Group One sprinter on their hands. He will be an interesting one to watch.

Masked Crusader will be remembered for his strong late finish in The Everest last year, he had missed the break badly and was given time to get back into the race staying on with purpose. On watching the race a few times again, I cannot conclude that he was unlucky not to win and it is clear he was running through beaten horses although he would undoubtedly have been a player had he not fluffed his lines coming out of the barriers. Yet to win this calendar year, he is the one horse who needs to really up his game and throw in a big run, failure to do so will mean he will go to his main target The Everest in poor form and last year he was thriving before the race so connections must be a little concerned.

Apache Chase is a prolific winning gelding and having won the Gr.1 Kingsford-Smith Cup at Eagle Farm from Paulele, he is entitled to take his chance here. He has been nibbled at in the market early in the week so obviously, someone thinks he is overpriced but he would still be a surprise winner.

It’s Me is up in class and looks to have a lot to do, she was slightly unlucky in the run in a Group Two at Rosehill last time out but even had she won that day she would still face an uphill task here despite a small weight allowance.

Kementari is completely exposed having had 43 starts and he would be a bit of a shock winner despite the fact that he has won at Group One level. He will appreciate the trip but connections of the leading horses will be back to the drawing board if he gets his head in front at the line and many dreams would be squashed.

Private Eye hasn’t run since June but has had two recent trials to get him ready for this. He has been running in and has won a Group One race so this level should hold no fears for him but there is a suspicion that he is better over further and it seems like connections are following up on his Group Three win here two runs back over the sprint trip, to see if they do have a Group One sprinter on their hands. He will be an interesting one to watch.