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By Brad Gray

1. Espionage would have been a live chance in the Golden Slipper had he made the field. That was on the back of a luckless fifth in the Todman Stakes. Prior to that he took late ground off Straight Charge in the Silver Slipper over 1100m on a wet track. On debut, he won the Breeders Plate. His depth of form is far superior to anything else in the race. Having missed a run, he’s been back to the trials where he was made to win his heat at Warwick Farm against older horses. Originally he was being set for the Sires’ but this race looks perfect as a consolation for what has so far been a forgettable carnival. Nothing much has gone right for the Zoustar colt. Should tag the speed and there is plenty of it. Justifiably a short-priced favourite.

Dangers: 8. Hallett absorbed pressure from outside the lead on debut on the same day as 4. Roselyn’s Star. There was little between the pair on the clock, carrying the same weight. Hallett gets a 2kg fillies allowance on Saturday. 7. Extreme Diva has had four weeks off after backing up in the Reisling where she didn’t get a lot of room in the straight. Has form through the right races and she’s only a small filly so could potentially skip through the wet. Roselyn’s Star needs to harness his speed a touch now he is racing in better grade but Nash Rawiller won’t change too much. Let fast horses be fast. How he handles a testing 1100m at Randwick on a wet track will be interesting. Catch me if you can. 5. Hezdarnhottoo franked the Roselyn’s Star form subsequently.

How To Play It: Espionage WIN

11. Circle Of Fire sprinted home in fast time last start at Rosehill, despite finishing fourth over 1900m. That was behind Wymark who won again in the Tulloch Stakes thereafter. The lightly-raced four-year-old has had just two starts in Australia now but looks to be building towards another win. He was placed in Listed company in the UK and ran fourth in the G2 Queen’s Vase over 2800m as a $9 chance in July last year. Three weeks ago he wasn’t suited by the way the race was run in the early stages before clocking the ninth quickest last 200m split of the meeting, at the end of a middle distance trip. The son of Almanzor drops 7kg up in grade. The unknown is how he’ll handle a possible heavy track having never raced on anything other than a soft track in his eight career starts.

Dangers: 8. Verona ran through the line from last in the Epona Stakes last start. Ignore that she was beaten four lengths and beat only a handful home. She jumped out of the ground last campaign once she got out to 2400m. She has a heavy track Randwick win to her name from two years ago. 12. Double Cherry turned his form around to win at Wyong last start having shown nothing in Australia at his three prior runs. Has form around Post Impressionist from the UK. He is a genuine stayer so although he needs to improve again, out to 2600m and down in the weights gives him the chance to. Respect the class of 2. Stockman and, the wet track record of 4. Hopeful.

How To Play It: Circle Of Fire WIN

6. Kintyre was only beaten two lengths in the G2 Phar Lap Stakes second up. Zardozi won and is a firm favourite for the Derby after her Vinery run while the runner up Makerena should have fought out the finish against the older mares in the Emancipation. It looks a strong form reference. Since then Kintyre tackled 2000m in the Tulloch Stakes where Wymark outstayed his rivals. He worked early from the wide draw which left him vulnerable late, especially with a query over him running out a strong 2000m. That sees him profile nicely on the seven day turnaround coming back to the mile. An in form Jamie Kah sticks and the gelding can slide forward again to offset the wide draw. His only previous heavy track run was as a two-year-old where he led. Happy to give him another chance.

Dangers: 3. Ducasse was entitled to do more in the Rosehill Guineas but perhaps he too didn’t quite see it out. Dropping back to the mile looks a plus, as does the prospect of a wet track. His only previous run on wet ground was a beauty. 5. Tannhauser looked to only be warming up through the line in the G2 Phar Lap Stakes last start, racing like he wants 2000m. Hence he was accepted for the Rosehill Guineas but subsequently scratched from a wide gate. Offsetting staying around the mile third up is the prospect of a testing wet track. 10. Mchale is two from two since being gelded. More depth here. Chris Waller has won three of the past five runnings of this race. It’s hard to get a line on the Kiwi 2. Witz End. Should handle the ground which is the first obvious positive. Getting out to the mile looks to suit too. 21. Firestorm has knockout claims.

How To Play It: Kintyre WIN

11. Ahuriri draws widest but there are six emergencies. It’s still not ideal but she looks to have a great base for a testing 2000m. She strikes this fourth up after running over 1890m and 1800m at her past two starts. She bolted in at Newcastle two starts ago, the same race Collette won impressively a couple of years ago before winning the Adrian Knox. Ahuriri then went down narrowly at Hawkesbury, just missing in a photo finish. It took her a while to wind up but that was getting back onto a good track. Her dominant maiden win was on soft ground. That bodes well for her chances getting back onto rain-affected going. It’s been four weeks since we’ve seen this daughter of Almanzor at the races but she’s had a soft tickover trial since to bridge the gap between runs.

Dangers: It was hard to make much sense of the Kembla Grange Classic but we’ve seen Tutta La Vita frank the form in the Vinery, which is the first tick as a form reference. 12. Good Banter was an eye-catcher late there. The blinkers went on for the first time. That sets her up perfectly for 2000m fourth up. Prior to that run she ran on late in a sprint home at Rosehill behind Mare Of Mt Buller. She won her maiden on a heavy track. 3. Waikato Girl was boxing away well through that same race and she too profiles like she’ll relish 2000m. She draws to get settle close than the two aforementioned fillies. 1. Autumn Angel is the class runner, hence the 61kg. That’d be a task on a heavy track but respect that she comes into this a last start Group Two winner. Ed Cummings has won this race twice recently and he backs up 14. Hippy Dreams.

How To Play It: Ahuriri EACH WAY

1. Bandi’s Boy only has to reproduce what he did last Saturday to win this. It was an outstanding win, taking out the G3 Star Kingdom running home over the top of Malkovich with Roots nipping home into third, with a Golden Slipper winner in fourth. He now finds himself 11 rating points clear of the second highest, yet meets them all under set weight conditions. The four-year-old has returned in career best form. That was evident after winning first up at Randwick. He hasn’t run poorly since. It’s been a while since he seen a heavy track but the last time he did he beat Zougotcha as a two-year-old at Randwick. He wobbled late yet still won by a length. Perhaps barrier 1 is the only potential knock. All eyes on how the track is playing for the first five races.

Dangers: 12. Atmospheric Rock was only beaten half a length by Bandi’s Boy in the Moruya Qualifier and meets his stablemate 3kg better off. He hasn’t raced since, tackling this fresh. He started $6 there yet is dismissed by the market here. Wet is fine. 11. Associate ran on late behind Bandi’s Boy at Moruya before franking that form with a last to first win in the Goulburn Wild Card. 9. Sharp Shock ran a distant second in the G3 Newcastle Stakes two starts ago, despite starting cricket score odds. He backed that up with second in a busy finish at Scone. Well performed on wet ground. Like the recent wet track form of 4. Auzstar and 13. Asgarda if you’re looking for a roughie. 10. Gallant Star was expected to win last start but just missed.

How To Play It: Bandi’s Boy WIN

4. Prost never got the chance to wind up in the Golden Slipper. He isn’t the type of horse that can afford to have his momentum halted. The son of Snitzel takes time to wind up. Having drawn wide, he was dragged back and found the fence looking to cut the corner late. A couple of his rivals had the same idea and accelerated too well for him forcing Adam Hyeronimus to angle back to the middle of the track. There were no runs there either and he went to the line largely untested. Everything he has done to date screams 1400m and the map is much kinder for him on Saturday. He motored home in the Breeders Plate, beat Fearless and Traffic Warden in the Canonbury and took late ground off Storm Boy in the Skyline all before his luckless Golden Slipper run. Don’t believe this race as clear cut as the early market leads us to believe.

Dangers: 3. Traffic Warden is still in his first campaign, lines for start seven and has shuttled down to Melbourne and back twice. He has been a busy colt. He just keeps fronting up though, and actually keeps improving. He ducked up the inside in the Golden Slipper and ran right through the line, in inferior going breezing straight past Storm Boy late. He is already a 1400m winner too. 10. Manaal’s rotten luck with barriers continues. It proved costly in the Golden Slipper. Loved her late strength. Her half brother recently won a feature race in Saudi Arabia over 2000m by nine lengths. 1. Storm Boy was bustled along for much of the Slipper and that told at the finish. Better suited to a wide draw but he looks very well found. 8. Duvana is the knockout.

How To Play It: Prost EACH WAY

Gun Kiwi sprinter 8. Imperatriz boasts an incredible record. There is an argument to be made that she hasn’t been at her best in three runs back this time in but to counter that, has she had the right set up to be at her best? Probably not. Despite that she is still getting the job done. She hasn’t been as dominant down the Flemington straight and when beaten in the Newmarket she gave Cylinder 6.5kg. She then overcame a tricky settling position to hold on in the William Reid. Take out the anomaly of 7. Johnny Rocker jumping out of the ground and she beats the rest comfortably. She’s hard fit, will put herself in the first couple and has won on a Heavy 10 in New Zealand in the past. Won’t be using the track as an excuse come Saturday.

Dangers: 9. Bella Nipotina has had a good view of Imperatriz’s backside in their five previous clashes. However, a Soft 5 is the softest the track has been in those meetings and none of them have been in Sydney. She won the Winners Stakes here over the spring having clocked the fastest closing splits of the meeting in the Sydney Stakes prior. Her career best win was on a heavy track. The niggling query with 1. I Wish I Win is tackling the race first up on what could be a very testing track. He won the TJ last year but was third up. He flies fresh but fitness will surely play a role over the last 100m. 4. Coal Crusher finally looks to have found a race he can lead in. Unfortunately for him, it’s probably beyond him class wise. He’s a great wet tracker though and is on the quick back up.

How To Play It: Imperatriz WIN

19. Celestial Legend wasn’t entitled to win the Randwick Guineas given the run he endured. Posted wide and working throughout, he hit the front but had horses challenging him to the inside and outside. The bunched raised queries as to the depth of that race but Militarize produced a great Doncaster trial himself in the George Ryder subsequently. The margin may have been more like the Hobartville had Celestial Legend got the same economical run. The big unknown is the heavy track. The son of Dundeel has won on a Soft 6 but is untried on anything worse than a Soft 7 and that was at Canterbury on debut. Then throw into the mix four weeks between runs, even though his trial since was impressive. The grey drops to just 49kg.

Dangers: 4. Militarize has a near perfect Doncaster profile. As a three-time Group One winner the handicapper hasn’t missed him so 54kg is the leveller but he comes through the right lead up race in the George Ryder, brining in weight-for-age form, is trained by Chris Waller and has a big Randwick heavy track win to his name. 8. Detonator Jack won’t win this on class but a heavy track from a soft draw brings him right into play. His first up run was excellent, absorbing pressure in the Ajax Stakes first up over 1500m yet only going down half a length. 18. Another Wil can win, absolutely, he is on the sharpest upward spiral of any runner in the field. Just don’t think his price does the depth of this Doncaster justice. 12. Lady Laguna is hard fit, flying and looks so well weighted on 51kg. 7. Kovalica.

How To Play It: Celestial Legend WIN

7. Wymark is tearing through the grades as he gets out in distance. Connections elected to pay the late entry fee after their tough gelding took out the Tulloch Stakes. He shapes to relish 2400m, the wet track looks fine and he too has the advantage of tackling this race on the quick back up. He wont be beaten on the score of fitness, that’s for sure. The Tulloch Stakes has provided five of the past seven winners of the Australian Derby. Four of those were on tracks rated Soft 7 or worse. Back up horses on wet tracks. Tick.

Dangers: Out of the Rosehill Guineas, 3. Ceolwulf looks to be the one screaming out for 2400m. He couldn’t match the sprint of 1. Riff Rocket but was coming again on the line. There is a real sense of timing about Joe Pride’s son of Tavistock.

How To Play It: Wymark WIN

2. Kristilli hasn’t had anything go right for her in three runs this time back. First up she ran on behind Lady Laguna in a slowly run race. She clocked the fastest closing splits of the meeting in defeat. She then dropped back to fillies company in the Light Fingers but was poste three deep on speed throughout. She stuck on bravely given the run she had. Then last start she again found herself trapped without any cover over 1400m in the Surround Stakes and knocked up. Freshened for five weeks and drops back to 1200m. The biggest ace up her sleeve for Saturday is that her one previous run on a heavy track was a brilliant win in the Percy Sykes Stakes as a two-year-old. Due a change of luck.

Dangers: Grahame Begg won this race 12 months ago with a similar profile of filly in Magic Time. This time he brings up 6. Miraval Rose. She too is first up on the back of an impressive Listed win over the spring. That was at Caulfield where she ran along in front, clocking fast overall time. Has had three jumpouts to prepare for this. 18. Unique Ambition comes off a Newcastle maiden but her run in the Tea Rose last campaign says this isn’t beyond her. Best roughie. 12. Commemorative is a big imposing mare. Got herself back on track with an arrogant win at Wyong first up. Unknown heavy.

How To Play It: Kristilli EACH WAY

All the fields, form and replays for Day 1 of The Star Championships at Randwick