Canterbury Stakes 2021 Tips, Preview & Best Bets

Given group one status in 2013 in a year which saw the champion Pierro celebrate in style by denying More Joyous a hat-trick of wins in this race, the Canterbury Stakes has a fine honor roll since first being run in 1929.

Along with popular recent winners in Trapeze Artist and Happy Clapper, this race has seen the likes of Sky High, Manikato and Placid Ark salute over its history, all elite gallopers in their time.

The Canterbury Stakes is a $500,000 feature run over 1300 metres at Royal Randwick and in 2021, it sees Godolphin four-year-old Bivouac the current $2.90 favourite with bookmaker.com.au.

What do we make of the first-up flop as favourite in the Lightning Stakes? On face value, he was quite disappointing but off just the one trial leading into a 1000m assignment, a trip that is a little sharp for him, he gets another chance stripping fitter now second-up and stepping up in trip.

Straight from 1000m to 1300m is a shade unconventional for Bivouac, a galloper that likely comes back to the 1200m later in the autumn for the T.J Smith Stakes but perhaps as an older galloper now, it may be an advantage and he is a 1400m winner, so there's some positives in that regard.

As a three-time Group One winner and rated as the best sprinter in Australia following a big win in the 2020 VRC Sprint Classic, he's entitled to be a little shorter in a weight-for-age contest where his main rivals in the market don't have close to the same resume as this son of Exceed and Excel.

This Waterhouse & Bott-trained colt is a little underrated and via his last fresh run in a small Silver Eagle field, was eased back under jockey Tim Clark and spotting race fitness to all his opposition, attempted a wide run from the rear with his 33.75 last 600m only just being shaded by Flit's.

That saw Dawn Passage open up at a silly price in the 2020 Golden Eagle, a feature he arguably wins on firmer footing and/or from a better gate, having only been reeled in by Colette and Icebath, two elite heavy track performers.

He took big leaps last year where following a winning hat-trick, was a well supported Stradbroke favourite but had come to the end of his campaign then and as an entire who does need a Group One on his resume, at what is arguably his pet trip, this may be his best chance off two trials that have been faultless.