Australia: Amelia's Jewel faces stiff test in Northerly Stakes
The 3-year-old filly Amelia’s Jewel has run only in stakes in her brief career.
She has won at distances ranging from five furlongs to a mile, with all the starts at Ascot Racecourse in Perth. She starts in the most important race of her career to date – the $1.02 million Northerly Stakes on Friday at Ascot, her first start in a Group 1 and in a seven-figure race.
Those are challenges she may be able to handle in the Northerly Stakes, which drew a field of 15 and is the eighth race on a nine-race program that begins at 11:05 p.m. Eastern or 8:05 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
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Trained by Simon Miller, Amelia’s Jewel drew the inside post. The mount of Patrick Carbery, Amelia’s Jewel tends to run from off the pace. She won the Belgravia Stakes at six furlongs on Oct. 22 from the rail, closing from fifth in a field of eight to win by about a neck.
More recently, Amelia’s Jewel won the longest race of her career in the Group 2 Western Australia Guineas at a mile on Nov. 19, closing from 10th to win by slightly more than a half-length against males.
Even with a large field, the Northerly Stakes appears to be a two-horse race. Cascadian, an 8-year-old gelding who has won six stakes, was the 2-1 favorite as of Thursday, a slight choice over Amelia’s Jewel at 5-2.
Cascadian, who tends to run from well off the pace, won the Group 3 Craven Plate at 1 1/8 miles at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Oct. 15 and was fifth of 11 in a tough running of the Group 1 Cantala Stakes at a mile at Flemington Racecourse on Nov. 5.
The Northerly Stakes is Cascadian’s debut at Ascot. He will face a test from a local filly on the upswing.