The 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Caulfield Spring Weight-For-Age Championship heats up on Saturday with the running of the second leg, the A$1m Group 1 New Zealand Bloodstock Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield.
The prizemoney for the NZB Memsie Stakes has doubled this year from A$500,000 to A$1m – a move that has been rewarded with a sensational field for the first Group One race of the 2017-18 Australian racing season.
Hartnell(Authorized) won the first leg of the Series, the A$200,000 PB Lawrence Stakes on August 19, but is bypassing Saturday's race. A stellar cast of proven elite performers will be out to move up the points table in his absence.
Nine of the 12 runners are Group 1 winners, including last year's winnerBlack Heart Bart(Blackfriars) and the high-class Karaka graduates Jon Snow(NZ) (Iffraaj) and I Am A Star(NZ) (I Am Invincible).
The Series will have a new leader if either Charmed Harmony (8 points, 2nd in Leg 1) or Black Heart Bart (6 points, 3rd in Leg 1) finish in the first three on Saturday, while a Memsie Stakes win by Tosen Stardom (3 points, 5th in Leg 1) or Humidor (1 point, 6th in Leg 1) would send them to the top of the table.
The NZB Memsie Stakes will be run as Race 7 with a start time of 4:10pm (6:10pm NZT).
NZB Release
