Kennedy Champions Mile Final Field & Barrier Draw
Champions Mile Tips & Preview 2023
Looking for Champions Mile tips and best bets? We dissect times and form to find the winner of the 2023 Champions Mile at Flemington.
CHAMPIONS MILE BETTING SNAPSHOT
Fangirl heads the market with Dabble at the $2.40 quote after her luckless display in the Cox Plate, while the placegetters from the weight-for-age championship, Mr Brightside and Alligator Blood, are next in line at $3 and $3.50 respectively.
A small but select field of seven contenders are in action and the last start Group 1 winner, Pride Of Jenni, is at $13, while The Inevitable ($21), Victoria Road ($26) and Bankers Choice ($41) make up the rest of the field.
CHAMPIONS MILE FORM ANALYSIS
Four of the seven runners were in action in the Cox Plate. Mr Brightside settled three pairs back on the inside and drove through to almost win, missing out in a photo finish behind Romantic Warrior. Alligator Blood settled just behind the leaders and looked home at the 150m mark before just going down late. Mr Brightside went 17.7 lengths faster than standard benchmark in the Cox Plate, which is the best last start figure of any runner.
Fangirl was a tad luckless and overraced early before being held up at the 500m. She defeated Mr Brightside by nearly three lengths at her start prior, with that coming in the King Charles III Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on October 14. Victoria Road seemed to have his chance in the Cox Plate.
Mr Brightside and Alligator Blood have both had five runs this preparation, while Fangirl has had four. Alligator Blood won this race off a close to identical preparation last year, while Mr Brightside was 3rd. Fangirl has had just two starts in Victoria for a win at the track and trip against the boys in the Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) as a three-year-old to complement her Cox Plate result.
Pride Of Jenni creates interest. The Maher/Eustace galloper is on the one-week back-up after leading at a hefty tempo before holding on in the Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) against the mares last weekend. She went 18.7 lengths faster than standard until the 600m mark, before eventually going 15.1 lengths faster than standard.
Bankers Choice was also in action on Cox Plate day and ran 5th in the Crystal Mile, going 9.8 lengths faster than standard. Not quite sure that the Mike Moroney-trained galloper is up to troubling the favoured runners. He was 3rd at massive odds prior to that in the Toorak Handicap.
The Inevitable was 7th in the same race. He did feature in the All-Star Mile (1600m) in the autumn at Moonee Valley when 3rd behind Mr Brightside. Alligator Blood was 4th in the same race.
CHAMPIONS MILE TIPS AND BEST BETS
What a contest this shapes up to be. Hard to split both Alligator Blood and Mr Brightside. That pair have met on 10 occasions and it is Alligator Blood that has landed in front of Mr Brightside in six of those contests. Mr Brightside has had the upper hand in recent times, however, finishing ahead of his rival the last five times they have met, including a clash at the track and trip earlier this spring in the Makybe Diva Stakes. Pride Of Jenni will inject plenty of speed in the race and Alligator Blood will go for home at the 200m mark. Going with the Waterhouse/Bott galloper to get home in a thriller.
