Darley Champions Sprint Results & Replays
Railway Stakes Tips & Preview 2022
Looking for Railway Stakes tips and best bets? We dissect times and form to find the winner of the 2022 Railway Stakes at Ascot.
RAILWAY STAKES BETTING SNAPSHOT
A capacity field of 16 runners are set to line up in the $1.5 million Railway Stakes and it is the WATC Derby (2400m) winner from the autumn, Alaskan God, that heads the market with Palmerbet at the $3.90 quote ahead of Trix Of The Trade at $5.
Karli’s Karma has attracted support after the barrier draw and is at $5.50, while Treasured Star is steady at the $10, despite drawing the outside. Ironclad ($11), Searchin’ Roc’s ($13), Devoted ($13) and Yonkers ($15) head the rest of the field.
RAILWAY STAKES FORM ANALYSIS
The key recent races to look at are the Group 2 Lee Steere Stakes (1400m), the Group 3 RJ Peters Stakes (1500m) and the Group 3 Asian Beau Stakes (1400m) with 13 of the 20 runners (including the four emergencies) coming out of one of the three.
The race favourite, Alaskan God, could only manage 6th in the Asian Beau Stakes on October 29 but was the big eye-catcher out of the race, running on from last at the 400m to land just over a length behind Treasured Star.
That came off a slow tempo and the Daniel Morton-trained galloper produced the fastest last 200m. He drops 1kg from that run to the 53kg and will appreciate the extra 200m. Second up at his last preparation he improved seven lengths on benchmark figures when going from the 1400m to the 1800m to score at Ascot before winning another four on the trot, culminating in his Derby triumph.
The winner out of the Asian Beau Stakes, Treasured Star, settled handy before holding on late in the piece to go 2.1 lengths faster than standard benchmark. She will have work to do from the wide barrier but drops 1kg in weight and gets the services of Willy Pike, who will be going for his fifth consecutive win in the race.Startrade and Trix Of The Trade filled the minors with the latter drawing wide but running on well.
The Lee Steere Stakes is always a good guide to the Railway and Karli’s Karma couldn’t quite reel in Massimo, who won’t be present in the Railway. The five-year-old went 5.9 lengths faster than standard benchmark. Resortman produced the fastest last 200m to run 3rd. He carries top weight of 57kg for this race and won his three prior to that. The likes of Comfort Me, Notorious One and God Has Chosen were further back and will need to improve to be in the finish in the Railway.
Searchin’ Rocs was the winner of what was a moderately run RJ Peters Stakes last weekend, going 1.3 lengths slower than standard benchmark. Devoted was the hot favourite for that race but was posted out and could only manage 3rd. It remains to be seen if the Belmont Guineas (1600m) winner is up to this and he keeps finding excuses but he might not sneak into the field as the third emergency.
Winning Partner is the first emergency and comes in with the best last start benchmark figure of any runner, going 7.5 lengths faster than standard when a four-length 10th at Flemington on Stakes Day in a BenchMark 90 over the 1600m. Not sure if that is the right form for this but she drops a whopping 8kg and was a winner at Moonee Valley prior to that on the aborted Manikato Stakes meeting.
Yonkers is another to come over from the eastern seaboard and went six lengths faster than standard when 5th in the Rosehill Gold Cup (2000m). He has a solid record over the 1600m and is worth a bit of thought. Ironclad comes over after running 4th behind Uncle Bryn in the Cranbourne Cup last weekend and was 3rd at Group 2 level over the 1400m at Flemington prior to that. He is third up for this assignment.
Marocchino and Buster Bash are two of four last start winners. Marocchio claimed the Northam Cup (1600m), while Buster Bash was victorious in the Luckygray Stakes (1800m).
RAILWAY STAKES TIPS AND BEST BETS
Marocchino and Buster Bash might head forward, while Comfort Me, Yonkers, Karli’s Karma and Last Of The Line shouldn’t be too far away. Not sure that we will get a breakneck tempo and a number of back markers in the race might need to get going early. I am willing to play around Alaskan God. His personal best of 2.6 lengths faster than standard is the worst of any runner and he is no value at the quote. I think that the Lee Steere Stakes might be the form reference and Resortman can be the improver out of that. He gets to the 1600m for the first time but looks like he wants it and produced the fastest last 400m of the entire meeting with his performance in the Lee Steere Stakes. Yonkers is another at a bit of a price. He is best known for his form over 2000m but has produced some solid figures over shorter trips and should settle handy in the run. Lightweight contenders are Treasured Star and Last Of The Line.
Selections:
1 (Resortman) – 2 (Yonkers) –15 (Treasured Star) – 11 (Last Of The Line)
