Dalasan to back up on day two of The Championships

A predicted small field has encouraged connections of Doncaster Mile placegetter Dalasan to roll the dice and give the South Australian star his chance Saturday’s Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes field at Randwick.

Connections of the four-year-old have agreed to pay the late entry of $66,000 to give the Dalakhani stallion another opportunity to win a Group 1 in the $4 million weight-for-age feature over 2000m.

Dalasan earned himself the chance to run in the Queen Elizabeth with a solid performance to finish third behind Cascadian and Icebath in last Saturday’s $3 million Doncaster Mile.

Cascadian has grabbed it in the shadow of the post! A gun ride from @jamieleekah07 for @godolphin to win the 2021 G1 Doncaster Mile. pic.twitter.com/uXgl3jH5or

He has continued to impress trainers Leon MacDonald and Andrew Gluyas in the 48 hours since the race.

“He has pulled up good,” he said.

“I thought he ran very well and lets face it, he probably had every chance to win so we have no excuses about the result.

“He had to run a good race to back up and with it looking like it will only be a small field, why not.”

Several connections were still weighing up whether they would accept for the Queen Elizabeth on Monday afternoon however the field will be headlined Group 1 star Verry Elleegant and last year’s winner Addeybb.

Trainer Leon MacDonald. Photo: AAP Image/Vince CaligiuriSource:AAP

MacDonald concedes the top pair, which finished one-two in the Ranvet Stakes last month, would be the benchmark but believes Dalasan has shown he can compete at the top level before.

“The top two (Verry Elleegant and Addeybb) look very good but his form around Verry Elleegant isn‘t too bad,” he said.

“He was 0.3 of a length off her in the Turnbull Stakes last spring so his form around her is okay.”

Sportsbet inserted Dalasan into its Queen Elizabeth Stakes market as a $21 chance with Verry Elleegant and Addeybb sharing favouritism at $2.80.

The final field and barrier draw for the Queen Elizabeth and Sydney Cup will take place on Tuesday morning at Randwick.

Kerrin McEvoy is expected to take the ride on Dalasan with regular jockey Jason Holder serving a suspension incurred in the Doncaster for excessive whip use.

MacDonald said by running Dalasan in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes it would rule him out of a tilt at the Queensland Winter Carnival later this year.

He will likely head back to South Australia for a spell after Saturday’s run before a spring campaign is considered.

Originally published asDoncaster placegetter makes late Queen Elizabeth bid

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