Hunting for the best long‑odds plays at The Championships Day 2? Ladbrokes has your Randwick roughies sorted, with all the value picks to keep you cheering right through the long weekend.
The peak of the autumn carnival is upon us with Saturday’s Sydney race card absolutely stacked with stars and value as Queen Elizabeth Stakes Day takes centre stage.
With four elite levels, an undefeated queen putting it all on the line and plenty of juicy support acts to sink your teeth into, it’s time to unearth the value on the turf!
Ladbrokes’ own Value Whisperer is back, and below you’ll find all of Lucy Henderson’s top roughie picks for a big Saturday at Randwick.
Randwick Race 5 – Group 1 $1 million Australian Oaks (2400m)
No. 2 After Summer
AFTER SUMMER (3) shapes up as a terrific value play in the ATC Oaks despite the Dominic Sutton-trained The Autumn Sun filly having just the one win on the board to date.
She was solid in the spring when third in the VRC Oaks at 30/1 behind Strictly Business and will relish the rise back up in trip at this stage of her autumn prep.
Second-up she travelled north for Rosehill’s Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) improving sharply off her Group 2 Kewney Stakes sixth at HQ when narrowly denied by Belle Cheval.
Underrated that day at 60/1 she was beaten a nostril flare and presents third-up now ready to fire over the mile and a half.
Unlucky not to come away with the win when her protest for the Vinery trophy was dismissed and gets the chance to atone.
Safer in the markets against some quality types but still overs for mine considering her staying ability.
Drawn a dream in barrier three with Billy Egan sticking with.
They’ll save ground from the gate, maps well and can absolutely give the better fancied a fright.
| 2. After Summer (3) J: Billy Egan 56kg 33×62 T: Dominic Sutton |
Randwick Race 6 – Group 2 $1 million Arrowfield 3YO Sprint (1200m)
No. 8 Marhoona
It is a beauty of an Arrowfield field and MARHOONA (9) at 10/1 at time of publish looks one of the most underrated on the card.
Michael Freedman’s ultra-consistent Snitzel filly doesn’t know how to run a bad race and boasts at 50% winning strike rate from her eight starts to date.
She’s placed in a further three of those and is one of the few Golden Slipper winners to return and show her juvenile form wasn’t a fluke.
The field she beat in the world’s richest two-year-olds race has proven elite with the third-placed Tempted going on to do great things.
Has been up against the best sprinters in the country this campaign including her narrow second to Generosity here in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) two back.
Returned to winning form on March 21 to score a resolute upset in the Group 1 The Galaxy over The Quokka-bound Jedibeel off an impressive on-speed run and she looks ready to go on with it now.
Gate a non-issue as she’s slick enough to cross from the gate and stick with the task giving her own age rivals a shake-up.
| 8. Marhoona (9) J: Zac Lloyd 54.5kg 3×621 T: Michael Freedman |
Randwick Race 7 – Group 1 $2 million Sydney Cup (3200m)
No. 15 Highland Bling
The Sydney Cup is a yearly minefield for punters, and 2026 is no easier, but there’s one at a price I’m keen to be with and that’s HIGHLAND BLING (2).
The Phillip Stokes improver looks dangerously weighted with just 51kg, and his staying profile suggests he’s a genuine Each Way contender in the two-mile classic.
The OTI‑owned five‑year‑old has already shown he can run out a strong trip, boasting winning form to 2550m and producing two enormous efforts in South Australia earlier this prep — beaten a combined whisker in the Lord Reims (2600m) and Adelaide Cup (3200m).
He was stiff not to take home the Cup in South Australia last start after working early from a horror draw with 53kg, but this time he gets a far softer alley and drops even further in weight.
With Ben Thompson jumping aboard and the chance to land on speed without burning petrol, he looks primed to run a bold race at big odds.
| 15. Highland Bling (2) J: Ben Thompson 51kg 2×522 T: Phillip Stokes |
Randwick Race 8 – Group 1 $1 million Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m)
No. 4 Lazzura
When a last-start Group 1 winning mare from the Waller stable starts at double-figures it just goes to show the depth of this year’s Queen Of The Turf.
LAZZURA (10) didn’t have luck in the barrier draw but she’s a talented and progressive four-year-old daughter of Snitzel who isn’t without Top 3 claims in what looks the race of the day for mine.
Her odds are explained by her awful mile record – she’s without a top three run from four 1600m runs to date – but I was impressed by her determined Coolmore Classic (1500m) victory over Arctic Glamour in mid-March.
Kept fresh since, she’s been brought on with a recent Rosehill trial, and she’s proven here at Royal Randwick with her latest start at the course producing a Group 3 Show County win over 1200m on a Heavy (10) track last August.
She’s won at this stage of a prep in the past, and while she loses J-Mac to stablemate Lady Shenandoah, Nash Rawiller is no dummy replacement.
Gets conditions to suit and can run in the money.
| 4. Lazzura (11) Scratched: | |||
Race 9 – Group 1 $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m)
No. 5 Wootton Verni
WOOTTON VERNI (7) isn’t rolling Autumn Glow, but he’s miles over the odds to sneak into the placings.
I love finding the forgotten Waller roughie who can run top three behind the stable star, and at around 70/1 this bloke fits the brief perfectly.
He won the Rosehill Gold Cup over this trip by more than two lengths last spring and finally clicked back into gear last start, smashing Caviar Heights in the Neville Sellwood on a Soft 7.
His early‑prep runs behind Autumn Glow were better than they look on paper, he’s rock‑hard fit now, and he’s a genuine 2000m specialist with a 7:5‑1‑0 record at the trip.
Tommy Berry sticks, he gets his preferred conditions again, and he’s absolutely capable of outrunning his quote.
| 5. Wootton Verni (7) J: Tommy Berry 59kg x7551 T: Chris Waller |
Good luck punters!