A strong field of 15 runners are set to line up in the first running of the Inglis Dash (1100m) at Flemington on Saturday with $250,000 in prize money on offer. The new race, which forms part of the $5,000,000 Inglis Race Series, provides the next opportunity for three-year-olds, following the the Inglis Sprint (1100m), which was won by Lady Sniper (Snippetson) at Randwick in December, and precedes the Inglis Guineas (RL, 1400m) which takes place at Scone on 14 May 2016.

Inglis director Jonathan Darcy told ANZ Bloodstock News: “We are delighted with the support from owners and trainers for the inaugural running of the $250,000 Inglis Dash. “It is our philosophy to support our clients by running the $5,000,000 Inglis Race series throughout the two, three and four-year-old seasons of our sale graduates with plenty of opportunities over a multitude of distances in the City, Provincial and Country areas of Australia. “On Saturday the VRC have assembled a strong and very competitive 15-horse field headlined by five last start winners and including Peter Moody’s very promising dual Group Three winner Gold Symphony, Henry Dwyer’s classy youngster Rocky Boomboa and several New South Wales visitors including the stakes performer Hellbent from the Kurt Goldman yard,” D’Arcy added.

The field is headed by the HDF McNeill Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) winner Gold Symphony (Reward For Effort), a $100,000 purchase by Triple Crown Syndications from the draft of Grange Thoroughbreds at the 2014 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale. Jeff O’Connor, racing manager for Peter Moody, thinks Saturday’s race is the ideal autumn starting point for the three-year old. “This race looks a great race to kick him off in. Even though it is not a stakes race, it gives him the chance to keep winning,” he told ANZ Bloodstock News. “He’s a syndicated horse and these sorts of races are great for syndicators to have runners in.”

 “He can (win first up), he is going great. His two trials have been super. An early autumn return could provide a springboard for a campaign centred around the Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) back at Flemington on Saturday 5 March. “He’s back early now and it gives him the chance to progress to the Australian Guineas if all the signs are right. “We haven’t tried him at a mile or 1400 metres but by going early we will get to those lead up races and have a bit of fitness in hand. We would like to give him every chance to run the mile in in the Australian Guineas,” said O’Connor.

Among Gold Symphony’s rivals is the Henry Dwyer-trained pair of Rocky Boomboa (Artie Schiller) and Tokyo Tycoon (Written Tycoon). Rocky Boomboa fared best of the Dwyer pair when winning the VOBIS Gold Carat Plate (1200m) at Moonee Valley on 2 January and the lure of a valuable prize encouraged his trainer to postpone a spell for the $36,000 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale purchase. Dwyer said to ANZ Bloodstock News: “He’s a nice horse who we’ve always had a reasonable opinion of without going over the top. “He showed ability at Ararat and then didn’t have much luck at Moonee Valley. He then went back to Moonee Valley and won the restricted VOBIS Gold Carat. He now has a chance of running for some really rich prize money again only a fortnight later. “He was pretty right to go at Moonee Valley. That was his grand final really, but then this race was obviously worth good money and obviously a fortnight later so we thought we would keep him going for it. If he hadn’t won at Moonee Valley we probably would have tipped him out,” he added.

Dwyer reports that the gelding has come out of his latest race in good form and that his fitness would be tough to match. He said: “He’s come through that race well and all we’ve had to do is swim, trot and canter him through to this week and do a little bit of evens with him on Tuesday which was just to tidy him up and he goes in probably as close to 100 per cent fit as you would see a horse. “It just depends on whether his best is good enough,” he added. His trainer plans to give the three-year-old a break after Saturday and is hoping to bring him back in the winter, when he believes rain softened conditions will bring further improvement. While much of the focus will surround Rocky Boomboa, Dwyer believes his other challenger, Tokyo Tycoon, was somewhat unfortunate to only manage seventh behind his stablemate at Moonee Valley and said: “He’s a horse that I’ve probably always had more of an opinion of than Rocky Boomboa. “Rocky Boomboa had all the luck and this horse got stuck between them in a slowly run race and without galloping room. I’ve put blinkers on just to make him a little more sharp. He’s a colt and he probably doesn’t need to be a colt for much longer if he doesn’t win on Saturday. If he does run well we will persevere with the preparation but if he doesn’t then we’ll probably geld him and he will go back to the paddock.”

Tokyo Tycoon was a $72,500 purchase by his trainer from the 2014 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, with this year’s renewal to be held in Sydney from 6 to 8 February, and D’Arcy is confident of a strong sale. “The team at Inglis are gearing up for what should be an outstanding edition of the Classic Sale beginning with the big night session at Newmarket following racing at Royal Randwick on Saturday 6 February.

“Given the current favourite for the Group One MRC Blue Diamond Stakes Extreme Choice was a $100,000 Classic purchase in 2015 for Mick Price we are confident that trainers, agents and owners will all be knocking on the door at our Randwick stables next month to inspect and pursue the next group of top quality Classic sale graduates.

“We have an outstanding catalogue of yearlings to offer buyers with most of Australia’s leading stallions and breeders represented at the sale. “With an average price in 2015 of under $42,000, the Classic has the reputation of delivering top class runners at affordable prices. It is the sale for everyone and everyone is welcome to attend what has always been known as the horseman’s sale.”