Vastly contrasting draws for heat winners Miss Hazel and Fleur De Lil is likely to see the former start favourite in Saturday night’s $100,000 Australian Pacing Gold 3YO Fillies Final at Moonee Valley.
Sydneysider Miss Hazel has drawn to dispute the lead in the Group 1 showdown from barrier four, whilst Queensland ace Fleur De Lil faces a potentially tricky assignment having drawn barrier nine on the second row with the emergency on her inner.
Miss Hazel was simply breathtaking in her heat last Thursday afternoon at Moonee Valley, charging away to win by 11-metres in an electrifying 26.7 second last quarter.
A winner at five of her eight starts, the V75 Breeders Crown placegetter will be handled by the master Gavin Lang who’ll be keen to capitalise on his head start on Fleur De Lil.
Fleur De Lil sat parked and carried a flat tyre for the last 600-metres when registering an authoritative victory in her heat. The Luke McCarthy-trained and driven filly, a winner at 10 of her 13 starts, has the versatility and strength to overcome her awkward draw.
Elsewhere, Victorian 2YO Filly of the Year Amongst Royalty will be shooting for back-to-back APG titles after claiming the juvenile final last season. She is one of six two-year-old finalists amongst the starting 11, whilst the emergency Gloria Lombo is another.
Outside of Amongst Royalty, hopes of a hometown victory appear to rest with the Peter Manning-trained Dolcezza who has the speed to offset her extreme front line draw.
The field for the $100,000 Australian Pacing Gold 3YO Fillies Final (2100m), to be run at 9.30pm (AEST) this Saturday, is;
| 1 |
| ELYSEES CREST (SA) | T.RYAN | TODD MATTHEWS | | FT |
| 2 |
| VON RITA (VIC) | R.JACK | NATHAN JACK | | FT |
| 3 |
| AMONGST ROYALTY (VIC) | J.DAVIES | CHRIS ALFORD |
| FT |
| 4 |
| MISS HAZEL (NSW) | M.DOLTOFF | GAVIN LANG | | FT |
| 5 |
| CINNAMON CARTER (VIC) | W.HAYES | NEIL MCCALLUM | | FT |
| 6 |
| LADY REMBRANDT (VIC) | P.CHIRCOP | GARY WHITAKER | | FT |
| 7 |
| DOLCEZZA (VIC) | P.MANNING | Driver TBC | | FT |
| ----------------------------------------------------- | Second Row ------------------------------------------------ | |
| 8 |
| GLORIA LOMBO (VIC) | M.MANNING | JOHN CALDOW | (1EM) | FT |
| 9 |
| FLEUR DE LIL (QLD) | L.MCCARTHY | LUKE MCCARTHY | | FT |
| 10 |
| MY IRISH ROSE (NSW) | D.WILSON | DAVID AIKEN | | FT |
| 11 |
| MO CUSHLA (VIC) | M.MANNING | Driver TBC | | FT |
| 12 |
| ALLURING LOMBO (NSW) | P.FITZPATRICK | GAVIN FITZPATRICK | | FT |
