The Form | Akii Princess has had two wins in her last four starts at the track including a personal best effort of 29.79 over 520m on February 2 (replay below) and a BON run of 22.68 over the 401m on January 24. Before that she ran seventh in The Collerson behind Nad Al Sheba and second to My Hepburn in the heats of the Ladbrokes Group 1 Paws Of Thunder.
The Pedigree | Superior Panama x Sweet City Woman
Akii Princess is a litter sister to G1 Paws Of Thunder finalists Comet A Cost and 10-time winner Sweet City Angel, and a half-sister to rising stars Overflow Beau and Overflow Jill.
The Form | My Hepburn has been a model of consistency for the best part of five months with her last start fourth the only unplaced effort from her previous 15 runs. She’s got three feature placings among that stretch as well with a second in the Group 1 Paws Of Thunder and thirds in the G2 Gosford Cup and G3 Christmas Gift. the 19-time winner comes into this fresh after three weeks off but is tackling Richmond for the first time.
The Pedigree | Bernardo x My Sapphire
Belongs to the first litter out of My Sapphire who was a 14-time winner and earned a cheque in 28 of 34 career starts between 272m and 400m. The litter has combined for 70 wins at a 33% success rate through 212 starts.
The Form | Has only been racing in NSW for a few months but already has six victories including two wins from three starts at Richmond. Yet to strike a race beyond fifth grade so that’s the natural knock but deserves to be among the favourites for the series with runs of 29.52 (replay below) and 29.65 this year already. The Pedigree | Superior Panama x Nicki Fields
The litter have all won races and at a good clip too (34.6% through their combined 107 starts), with sister American Queen (12 wins including a 29.27 at Sandown and a 29.89 at The Meadows) and brother Home Brew (9 wins and a third in the G1 Sale Cup) looking above average.
The Form | Only a few have had a better start to the year than ‘Cob’ with a win in the G2 Gosford Cup followed by G1 National Derby and G2 Bulli Cup final appearances. He struggled to get clean air in the Bulli final and fell in the Derby decider so there are excuses for those two failures. Other than those runs, he’s only missed a drum in one other start and is already a four-time winner in 2024. One run at Richmond over the 520m for one win and a nice time as well (replay below).
The Pedigree | Fernando Bale x Good Odds Meghan
He’s a blue blood dog with dad a champ and mum an absolute star brood bitch and handy sprinter too. Eight of the litter have raced so far and between them they’ve won 52 events, had a further 50 placings and have built up more than $200,000 in earnings. His half-sister, Good Odds Emma, won the G1 Dapto Megastar a few years ago as well.
The Form | He was the fastest qualifier for the G2 Gosford Cup final in January but he had to be withdrawn after suffering a spider bite in what was a cruel blow for the kennel. Returned with a great win at Wenty in the heats of the G1 Paws Of Thunder before running seventh in the decider behind Dutch Riot. Decent efforts since at Bulli (26.37) and Wenty (29.90) but is the defending champion in this race and owns a super PB of 29.32 at Richmond (replay below).
The Pedigree | Zulu Zeus x Zipping Meg Of the seven raced dogs from his litter, he’s the only chaser to have won more than $9000 in career earnings ($177,500). He is a 23-time winner and is a half-sister to G2 winner Zipping Cosmo.
The Form | Hard to knock a dog that’s claimed six of seven career starts, all of them at Richmond over the 520m trip. He’s got a PB at the track and trip of 29.34 (replay below), has broken 30 in each of his wins and has been one of the stories of 2024. The naysayers will point to his quality of opponents as the knock but the clock doesn’t lie and his brothers recent performances say the pair could be very special.
The Pedigree | Barcia Bale x Angel Glow
He’s a full brother to fellow excitement machine, Mr. Peregrine, who was so dominant in the heats of the Robert Smith Memorial Maiden and then incredible in the final to win from a seemingly impossible position. The mum, Angel Glow, is a 16-time winner and she claimed six of those after remarkably coming back from whelping Not Without. The Ladbrokes Price | $2.30
