Will Tom Tzouvelis be the first trainer to win back-to-back Ladbrokes 715 titles?
The Queenslander had given up hope this girl would qualify for the final after her slightly disappointing heat effort of 42.31. But when Pepe Morada claimed the fifth and final preliminary in 42.29, Soiree punched her ticket to the big dance.
There’s a few things working in her favour on Friday as well. She’s under the care of Tzouvelis for starters - the 2025 winner of the race with Autumn Storm. Box 1 has proved to be a blessing in the four editions of The 715 so far as well with three winners coming from the inside draw. And she goes into the final with two runs at the track under her belt after finishing second in the G3 Newcastle Cup on April 18.
The biggest issue facing her – a lack of tactical, early pace. She’s going to get crossed by half the field in the opening 100m and although she’ll get an economical run along the fence, I can’t see her overhauling the front runners.
Soiree is littermate to Electrify and although she doesn’t have the brilliance of her brother, she’s another beauty for the Davis family.
Without A Trace | Peter Presutto | $3.30
Could the Presutto family pull off the Golden Easter Egg/715 double?
Without A Trace was back with a bang in the heats after a couple of uncharacteristically below par efforts in the Country Classic final and Association Cup preliminaries.
Her heat win of 41.86 (on a softer surface due to showers) was promising and she bounced beautifully to take up her customary position on the arm. From there she was strong without being spectacular and her run home time of 12.99 suggests she’s not quite at peak fitness yet.
Important to remember she missed a month of racing after a third-placed effort in the Zoom Top in February, and the 715 heat was just her fourth run since returning (and second start over a staying trip).
The box draw is tailor made for her to lead this field and Pepe Morada might be the only dog that could get across her early. If she finds herself in front, the three-time G1 winner will be mighty hard to run down and she’s never missed a place from seven Box 2 efforts.
Is the new kid on the block ready to roll the established stars?
Based off his recent body of work – the answer is yes. Six weeks ago, Electrify was 14.50 lengths off My Boy Bingo in a fifth grade middle distance race at The Meadows.
On Friday, he races for $250,000 and he goes in as one of the fancies after a destructive 41.48 win in the heats with the fastest run home time of all the winners (12.72). That was his first look at the tight turning Gardens track and surprisingly, that was just his fourth start over the staying trip.
Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact Greg Doyle only has two dogs to his name and he trains them both out of his suburban backyard.
Electrify might lack staying experience but he’s already a dual Group 1 finalist and he went within a half head of beating the best middle distance dog in the country, Miss Envy, in the heats of the Golden Sands.
I reckon he’ll end up one out and one back from Without A Trace early before trying to get to the fence around the first bend again. If he can land on the heels of her, he’ll be in a prime position to become the first Victorian to win the Ladbrokes 715.
He’s New South Wales’ best hope and the pride of Forbes is the most in form stayer in the country.
So far in 2026, he’s won the Group 1 Zoom Top, the G1 Fanta Bale and the G1 Association Cup. He also finished third in the G1 Gold Cup and the unsuitable Country Classic final over 600m. Fair to say he’s going alright.
He beat home Power Squeeze by a comfortable 4.5 lengths in a 41.66 heat win, but perhaps the most interesting part of his form is the way he’s leaving the boxes. He seems to be jumping better and his trial over 515m at The Gardens of 28.94 indicates he can burn the candle at both ends.
He’ll be giving his main rivals a head start but he might get the perfect run in behind the leaders from Box 4.
Will be trying to emulate the feats of 2022 winner Miss Ezmae (minus the car trouble) for Jack and Maree Smith.
Does the aging warrior have one last big hoorah in him?
He will turn four a day after the 715 final and although there are better dogs in the race, there probably aren’t too many tougher.
Was strong in the heats to win in 41.77 and importantly, he took half a second of the time he ran to finish third in the Newcastle Cup a week earlier.
Another who went through the Dubbo Country Classic series but he’s been so close without actually smoking the cigar too many times in the last six months.
The son of Fernando Bale x Book Of Love has run in seven group finals since October 17 and although he won the Summer Distance Plate, he’s managed runner-up finishes in the Sydney Cup and the Topgun Stayers, while also just missing the podium in both of Magpie Hector’s Victorian Group 1 triumphes.
Box 5 is tricky because all the heavyweights are inside him and the speedy Pepe Morada could easily cross him from Box 6 with a repeat of last week’s run.
He’s as strong as any dog in the field (12.82 run home in the heats) but I’m just not sure he can give the favourites a start and run them down.
She was a bold front-running winner in the heats and it was a special return to the track after a long time off the scene.
The time of 42.29 was by far the slowest of the preliminaries but it was her first run in four months following a season spell, and the conditions at the track had changed considerably by 10pm compared to Magpie Hector’s opening heat at 8:38pm. She’d also never raced at The Gardens and I wonder how much that run took out of her?
Pepe Morada’s last start was at Gosford on Boxing Day and she’s also had to overcome several significant injuries over the course of her career just to make it back at the track.
You only need to look at her form to see it’s been a slog, with only 15 race starts to her name despite her already being over three-years of age.
Her Wenty Park form from December (wins of 41.60 and 41.77) would normally well and truly stack up in a field like this. But without the benefit of racing and considering she will find it hard to lead Without A Trace and Electrify, I don’t think she can win.
He’s such a beautifully bred dog (Tommy Shelby x Just Terms) with both parents Group 1 winners over the sprint and staying trips respectively.
He’s also the youngest finalist in the field (doesn’t turn two until next week) and although he deserves his spot this year, you can't help but think maybe a race of this stature has come up too quickly.
The positive for him. He’s one of the only dogs in the field without an ounce of early pace so he should be able to flop out of Box 7 and get wherever he wants to go pretty quickly.
The negatives. He’s only had 10 career starts and I'm not sure he's fully developed the sort of field awareness and race sense needed to duck and weave his way through a field like this.
The Lord kennel ran third in the inaugural running of this race with Cawbourne Magic and it would be some training effort to claim it with one of the most promising stayers in the country in Power Squeeze.
Power Squeeze is a litter brother to Robert Smith Memorial Maiden winner, Blue Storm
Texas President | Jeff Britton | $26
Was 10 lengths off Electrify in the heats (42.18) but earned his way through as one of the lucky losers.
It would be remiss of me to discount a Jeff Britton stayer in a major feature final…but I think he’s up against it here.
He was pretty well away in the heats and it wasn’t until they squeezed up through the first bend that he got shuffled back. From Box 8, there’s every chance he ends up posted wide for the first half of the contest and he just doesn’t have the motor to be doing extra work in a race like this.
He's got sneaky good form with two Group 1 runner-up finishes in the last few months and has been rock solid for connections with 12 wins and 21 minors. Longest odds at time of writing but he could be the best chance of the double figure dogs.
Texas President ran second to Without A Trace in the Sale Cup and to Magpie Hector in the Fanta Bale
My Numbers
4. Magpie Hector
3. Electrify
2. Without A Trace
5. Ayden’s Warrior
The Ladbrokes 715 final will be run in Race 10 on Friday, May 1 at The Gardens.
