Trainer Neville Parnham is confident he can repel the eastern states' challenge in the Nov. 23 Railway Stakes (G1) at Ascot Racecourse as he seeks to go back-to-back following his maiden win in the 1,600-meter (about one-mile) event last year.
The full force of West Australia's Thoroughbred class will go on show as the locals seek to extend their strong record in Perth's first group 1 of the summer carnival, with a handful of some of the finest gallopers in the West on show and the state's prime stallion Playing God out in force.
Already charging towards his third straight Western Australia sires' title, Playing God has four of the field's 16 runners. His former trainer Parnham saddles the two most fancied, in last year's winner Bustler, and emerging 4-year-old Zipaway.
Ciaron Maher will attempt to continue his group 1 roll with Irish import Light Infantry Man, who broke through last start for his first Australian win in his third preparation here, taking Flemington's listed Chester Manifold Stakes.
Light Infantry Man was Friday vying for favoritism, at around AU$4.20, with another entry from the East in top weight Belclare. The dual New Zealand group 1-winning mare has won her past two starts in Sydney, the latest at group 2 level, after being transferred to Bjorn Baker, a man who's made a habit of success on western missions.
That pair crosses the country with strong credentials, as does likely third favorite Port Lockroy, from the Neasham-Archibald stable, plus Maher's second stringer in Queensland Oaks (G1) winner Socks Nation at AU$19, and Chris Waller's Democracy Manifest, at AU$16.
But Parnham feels his pair will be at the forefront of efforts to secure another hometown victory in the time-honored handicap, first run in 1887.
The last non-Western Australia horse to win the Railway was Chris Waller's Good Project in 2015. Before that, it was the John Thompson/Patinack Tale of the Cat gelding Gathering in 2010.
While both were from the East, they had two things in common which is further bolstering Parnham's confidence about Zipaway: they were 4-year-olds in on the minimum weight.
Since Gathering's victory 14 years ago, only one horse with more than the minimum weight has won the race, when Luckygray scored with 58 kilograms in 2013. And in that time, eight winners have been 4-year-olds, including the past three.
The three factors of 4-year-olds, localness, and minimum weights are linked. Young Perth horses' ratings are relatively low compared to the usual eastern visitors, and thus their handicaps are kept down.
It's a formula Parnham hopes will pay off again in Saturday's AU$1.5 million event. While he believes 5-year-old Bustler is over the odds at around AU$19—although he'll carry three kilograms more than the 53-kilogram minimum he won with last year—he feels Zipaway is in the sweet spot as a 4-year-old in at the minimum weight.
That's why Parnham's jockey son Steve has jumped to Zipaway and off Bustler, who he rode to last year's victory and in his last start.
"I couldn't be happier with both my horses. They're both trending the right way, and I'm going in with a degree of confidence that they'll shape up," Parnham told ANZ Bloodstock News.
