Railway Stakes Preview and Tips 23/11/24

Group One racing comes to Western Australia! The Spring Racing Carnival has officially finished in Sydney and Melbourne, so our attention turns to the Summer Racing Carnival in Perth. We have Group One races like the Railway Stakes, the Winterbottom Stakes, the Northerly Stakes and more to look forward to at Ascot Racecourse.

Things kick off this weekend with the Railway Stakes and we see a full field of 16 runners confirmed to take part (with four emergencies as well, in case there are any pre-race scratchings). Along with the Railway Stakes on Saturday, we also have The Gong, which is a Group Three raced down in New South Wales.

My Saturday tips have arrived here at OnlyRacing and I’ve gone through all the runners in the field. After careful consideration, I’ve got five best bets for you, so there is sure to be something that tickles your fancy. Let’s get stuck into some Railway Stakes tips, shall we? Keep reading to see who I’ve tipped.

It’s looking likely that Belclare, Comfort Me and Searchin’ Roc’s will be near the front of the pack, thanks to their barrier speed. Socks Nation and Light Infantry Man also have barrier speed, but Socks Nation will have a bit of work to do from the wide barrier. 

Meanwhile, Light Infantry Man, who is the current narrow favourite with PlayUp, has a gun draw (barrier two), so he has a lot of options and will look to settle just off the leaders. With a few runners looking to take the lead in this race, I’m expecting a moderate pace.

We are currently seeing two runners battle it out for favouritism, Belclare and Light Infantry Man, but I’m siding with Zipaway in this one, who is currently sitting on the third line of betting with PlayUp, at odds of $8.50. The 4YO gelding is coming through the Group Two Lee Steere Stakes, as are several of the runners.

In that run last time out, he finished fourth 1.2L off the leader, despite getting held up at a critical time, so I think a sharp improvement is on the cards here. Plus he goes from 59kg in that one to 53kg in this one, a massive swing in the weights is another tick. Does draw a double-digit barrier, so will likely need a smidge of luck, but he is good enough to win this.

Seen a bit of movement in the odds of the top two runners, but it looks like Light Infantry Man has now moved into favouritism and I couldn’t agree more. The gelding is currently the narrow $4.20 favourite with Bet365. Light Infantry Man has a lot of experience at Group One level, with a record of 9:0-3-2.

I reckon this is one of the best chances he has to finally win his first Group One. The 6YO won the Chester Manifold Stakes last time out, by 2.3L. James McDonald was on board that time and he makes the trip from Hong Kong for this one, so that’s a good sign. Gets an excellent barrier draw and his early speed will ensure he has plenty of options.

Port Lockroy was going around with odds of $101 for The Golden Eagle last time out and still managed to finish sixth, just 2.1L off the leader. This time out, his odds to win are at the $16 mark with Dabble. The stallion has been building nicely so far this prep and tackles a Group One race for just the second time.

There’s a bit of a swing with the weights as well here, he only has to carry 53kg on his back this time and he gets a middle draw, which I think will suit him perfectly. Things are lining up better for him in this one and if he can produce something similar to what he did last time out, he’s in with a chance of a top-three finish.

The barrier draw for Democracy Manifest is certainly not helping but I think he is worthy of the danger title in this race. We haven’t seen Democracy Manifest since his third place in the Group Three Craven Plate, where he was just 0.4L off the leader. He has been contending with a small injury and has been back at the trials since.

If all is right in the world and the injury is no longer an issue, he is a dark horse. He enjoys the mile and it looks like he has been saved for The Pinnacles over in Western Australia. We are getting decent odds for him as well, with $15 the current price at QuestBet. Has good closing speed, so watch for him late.

Not willing to pass up on the price that’s currently on offer for Casino Seventeen and I think he’s good enough to finish top three here. With Casino Seventeen going around with odds of $19 (thanks to BetRight), at the time of writing, he is the deserving best roughie for me in this race.

Many runners in the Railway Stakes are coming through the Group Two Lee Steere Stakes, which was run two weeks ago at Ascot Racecourse, a race that Casino Seventeen won. It was an excellent ride from William Pike and he lines up again here. The combination of trainer and jockey has had a lot of success here in the past as well!

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

Bookmaker	Tip	Odds
	Zipaway (win)	$8.50
	Light Infantry Man (each-way)	$4.20/$2.05
	Port Lockroy (place)	$4.80
	Democracy Manifest (place)	$2.95
	Casino Seventeen (place)	$5.25