Flight Stakes Preview and Tips 05/10/24

Well, well, well! Look what we have here. A MASSIVE day of racing, the first Saturday of the Spring with multiple Group One races on the same day. We have not one, not two, not three but four Group One races for us racing fans to feast our eyes on.

At Randwick Racecourse, there are three Group One races, including; the Flight Stakes, the Epsom Handicap and The Metropolitan. In Melbourne, at Flemington Racecourse, we have the Turnbull Stakes. I have your best bets for all four races covered, but this specific tips article focuses on the Flight Stakes.

My Saturday tips are hot off the presses here at OnlyRacing and I have been super busy crunching all the numbers for you. Hopefully, I’ve managed to find you a winner or two (or four!), so let’s get right to the good stuff, why don’t we?

With a race that has a small field and such a heavy favourite, I’m not finding a lot in terms of the race tempo. However, you may see JMac, the jockey on the heavy favourite, Autumn Glow, push forward to the front from barrier three, so he doesn’t get caught up in traffic.

Autumn Glow is good enough to take the lead all the way and win. Other than that, it looks like a mixed bag here and any one of the small number of runners in the field could lead here and dictate the early speed.

Everything is pointing to the daughter of The Autumn Sun, Autumn Glow, here. She is currently the $1.55 heavy favourite, thanks to PlayUp, with the next best runner listed with odds of $5.50 to win this one on Saturday. Autumn Glow is three from three in her career so far and has been progressing nicely.

She won the Tea Rose Stakes by 1.3L and the Flight Stakes looks like the natural progression here. JMac sticks with her here and the small field really does work to her advantage. I would be pretty shocked if another runner can pull off a victory in the Flight Stakes.

With Autumn Glow dominating the market, it’s all about who people think will finish second and third. I think Snow In May is a pretty safe bet for that. She is another that has come through the Tea Rose Stakes and she actually ended up finishing second to Autumn Glow in that one.

Her final splits in the Tea Rose Stakes were excellent and she is certainly good enough to shake things up. She does get a wide barrier in this one, but it could work well for her as it’s just a small field and she’ll easily be able to stay out of trouble. Snow In May is currently paying $6.50 for the win with Bet365.

With such a small field, there were a lot of choices for the value bet, but you get what you get and I’ve found Lazzura. Lazzura is currently paying $11 to win with Dabble. Chris Waller seems to have a stranglehold on this race, with half the fillies coming from his stable. Lazzura won her first two starts and has been performing well recently.

She has finished second in the Group Two Furious Stakes along with a fourth in the Tea Rose Stakes. I’m expecting she’ll come into this fitter thanks to those runs under her belt and she is very capable of putting in a quality performance, surprising a few along the way. Gets the widest gate of all and can stay out of trouble early.

So, if anyone is going to challenge my best bet and safe bet for the Flight Stakes on Saturday, it’s going to be Lady Shenandoah. Yet another Chris Waller-trained filly and she has been putting in some decent performances as of late. The filly has odds of $6.75 to win the Flight Stakes at the time of writing, thanks to QuestBet.

Last time out, she won the Group Three Ming Dynasty Quality after returning from a spell. The spell was the perfect thing for her and now she has come back chomping at the bit for an excellent Spring campaign. After the one run under her belt, I think she’ll be fitter and more confident tackling the Flight Stakes.

If you’re looking for something a little juicy, then I think I’ve found you something with Declichy Boulevard. She is currently paying $15 to win with Bet Right. Do I think she can win this one? Probably not. But she is good enough to give them all a run for their money on Saturday, so I’m taking a (small) chance.

Her first win came at 1,100m on a heavy track and she has been on the up ever since. So far this prep, she has been decent enough and she’ll have increased fitness for this one. The step up to the mile in the Flight Stakes looks like a good decision. I think she’ll need a little bit more time to develop, but I'm willing to throw something on the place.

All my Flight Stakes horse racing tips and their odds can be found here:

Bookmaker	Tip	Odds
	Autumn Glow (win)	$1.55
	Snow In May (place)	$1.60
	Lazzura (place)	$2.20
	Lady Shenandoah (place)	$1.56
	Declichy Boulevard (place)	$2.70