Races

Real Punters Play Here – All Aged Stakes

A look into this year’s Group 1-laden All Aged, brought to you by TABtouch.

The title of Australia’s best 1400-metre horse goes on the line in Saturday’s All Aged Stakes at Randwick.

The $1.5 million Group 1 event has gathered a field of 14, including the past three winners.

Jimmystar is back to defend his crown, taking on 2024 heroine Magic Time and Giga Kick, the winner from three years ago.

They are all striving to become the first multiple winner of the race since Sunline, who won in 2000 and 2002, and trying to pinpoint the winner is much more difficult than just looking to the past champions.

All but two of this year’s field are Group 1 winners and the competitiveness of the distance-range in Australia is highlighted by the fact Angel Capital is challenging for favouritism.

At 8.30am AEST Thursday Angel Capital was at $5 with TABtouch, which had him sharing the top line of betting with Jimmysstar.

The Chris Waller-trained entire is yet to win in six starts at the highest level, but was a good thing licked in last year’s Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) and was placed in the Newmarket Handicap (1200m) and William Reid Stakes (1200m) at his past two.

The son of Harry Angel owns a peak Racing And Sports rating of 120, a figure he has run three times, most recently when runner-up to Jimmysstar in the C F Orr Stakes at Caulfield last November.

Jimmysstar equalled his career peak figure – 124 – in that event and is one of six All Aged runners who have run better than Angel Capital’s peak figure at 1400m.

Fangirl ran 124 to win the Apollo Stakes two years ago, Beiwacht went 123 to win last year’s Golden Rose, while Pericles and Tim Kitten have both run 122 in a Futurity Stakes.

The horse with the best 1400m rating is Giga Kick, who ran 126 in his All Aged win, and while that was three years ago, he did run 122 when beating home all bar Joliestar at his most recent start in the T J Smith Stakes.

That’s the highest last-start rating by any runner in this year’s All Aged Stakes who is not resuming.

Significantly, it also came in the race that stands alone as the premier guide to the All Aged Stakes.

Cascadian won the 2022 All Aged out of the Doncaster Mile, a year after Kolding won it out of the George Ryder Stakes, but all other winners in the past decade came through the T J Smith Stakes.

Five of the eight were unplaced in the T J Smith Stakes, which gives hope to Jimmysstar (fifth), Magic Time (seventh) and Briasa (eighth), who are those joining Giga Kick out of this year’s T J Smith Stakes.

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