News

Inglis Banner draws excellent field

19th Oct 2011

Cox Plate Day at Moonee Valley this Saturday will kick off with the fourth running of the $250,000 Microflite Helicopters Inglis Banner (1000m), which has drawn an excellent field of 14 runners.

Restricted to two-year-olds nominated to the Inglis Race Series, the Inglis Banner has grown in stature each year since marking the start of the lucrative Inglis Race Series, and this Saturday the race promises to be another stellar renewal having pulled the second biggest field on the feature packed Melbourne card.

The 2008 winner of the two-year-old dash was Starspangledbanner (pictured), who went onto be crowned Champion Sprinter in both Australia and Europe during his racing career. The entire is currently covering his first book of Southern Hemisphere mares at Coolmore Stud in the Hunter Valley.

Last year Elite Falls defeated Masthead in the Inglis Banner by two lengths, with Arctic Command back in fourth. Subsequently Artic Command scored in the G3 VRC Maribyrnong Plate, Masthead won the $250,000 Inglis Premier before placing in the G1 MRC Blue Diamond Stakes and finishing fourth in the G1 ATC Golden Slipper, while Elite Falls finished last season as the equal rated top two-year-old filly in Australia after scoring in the G2 ATC Reisling Stakes and placing in the G1 ATC Golden Slipper in the autumn.

Sydney trainer John O’Shea took the spoils in 2010 and this year Gary Portelli hopes to take the Inglis Banner trophies north, with the Warwick Farm conditioner preparing last start Rosehill placegetter Rise To The Top. The winning trainer of this year's race will also receive a set of Swarovski Optik EL 42 Swarovision binoculars valued at $3,000.

Paul & Tracey Templeton will be cheering Balmodena to go one better than her half-brother Masthead when she lines up in this Saturday's event.

In addition to rich race prizemoney on offer, the winning owners of the 2011 Inglis Banner will receive a $50,000 Inglis yearling sales voucher from Super VOBIS. This voucher may be redeemed on a Super VOBIS qualified yearling purchase at the 2012 Inglis Melbourne Premier or Melbourne Autumn Yearling Sales. Inglis will provide free entry to the $2.6m Inglis Race Series for the horse purchased using this voucher.

Representing all of Inglis’ major yearling sales, the entire field for the 2011 Microflite Helicopters Inglis Banner is:-

No | Horse | Breeding | Sale | Price | Trainer -- | ------- | ----------- | -------- | ------ | -------- : 1 | De Master | Masterpiece - Decima | Melb Autumn | $18,000 | Paul & Tracey Templeton 2 | Free Of Doubt | Not A Single Doubt - On The Loose | Melb Premier | $260,000 | Jason Petch 3 | Red Excitement | Excites - Red Obsession | Syd Classic | $32,500 | Neville Layt 4 | Rise To The Top | Shaft - Razelta | Syd Classic | $22,000 | Gary Portelli 5 | Road Trippin | Charge Forward - Road To Damascus | Melb Premier | $22,500 | Stephen Theodore 6 | So Sure | Not A Single Doubt - Ligure | Melb Premier | $100,000 | David Hayes 7 | Strop | Falvelon - Delvene | Melb Premier | $18,000 | Shane Stockdale 8 | Swipeline | Sequalo - Encapsulate | Melb Premier | $85,000 | Tony McEvoy 9 | Unlucky | Artie Schiller - Hilda | Melb Autumn | $24,000 | Cameron Templeton 10| Balmodena | Good Journey - Balsamico | Melb Premier | $125,000 | Paul & Tracey Templeton 11 | Diamond Earth | Choisir - Face Of The Earth | Syd Classic | $60,000 | Anthony Cummings 12 | Go The Cats | Purrealist - With Fervour | Melb Premier | $65,000 | Rick Hore-Lacy 13| Kazanjian | Red Ransom - Little Diamond A | Aust Easter | P$70,000 | David Hayes 14 | Lamingtons | Alert - Blue Marwina | Syd Classic | $20,000 | Matt Laurie