Aiming to join elite sorority

RISING star mare Cool And Classy will begin her quest to join an elite sorority tonight.

Engaged in the Robin Dundee Stake at Club Menangle, Cool And Classy is attempting to qualify for the Queen Elizabeth II Stake.

Formerly-known as the Ladyship Mile, the time-honoured Group One is Australasia’s premier mares’ event.

Success in the $200,000 major will see Cool And Classy become just the fourth New South Wales Oaks winner to etch her name on the Queen Elizabeth II Stake honour roll since its inception in 1974.

Australia’s second oldest Oaks, the Blue Riband was inaugurated in 1956.

As it stands, only three pacers have achieved the feat, with Cheryl’s Delight the ground breaker in 1977.

It was almost three decades later Foreal added her name alongside Cheryl’s Delight, winning the Oaks during the 2004/05 season and the Queen Elizabeth II Stake in ’05/06.

New Zealand-bred mare Stylish Memphis rounded out the trio thanks to her victories in 2020 and 2021.

The daughter of Bettors Delight then became the fourth consecutive winner in 2022, joining Jodie’s Babe (1998 and ’89), Diamond Debutante (1991 and ’92) and Tailamade Lombo (1998 and ’99).

American-bred Sabilize is the only other dual Queen Elizabeth II Stake winner thanks to her wins in 1993 and ’96.

As for Cool And Classy, she will undertake a step up in grade for trainer Grant Dixon, with her rivals including defending Queen Elizabeth II Stake champion, Eye Keep Smiling.

To be driven by local reinsman Robbie Morris, Cool And Classy has drawn barrier three but slots into two with the removal of the emergency.

Winner of her last two starts in 2025, Cool And Classy has been triumphant at both her outings this campaign, including the Open Mares’ Pace at Albion Park last Saturday night.

TAB Fixed Odds have the four-year-old on the third line of betting at $5.50.

Tokyo Rose heads the market at $2.40 from gate seven for trainer Jason Grimson.

Boasting four wins from five starts since joining Grimson’s stable last December, the daughter of Captaintreacherous has been kept fresh since her 1:50.6 success at Club Menangle on March 14.

Runner-up in the same race, Eye Keep Smiling is the $2.70 second elect from barrier 10 for the powerful Luke McCarthy team.

Among the placegetters at four of her last five starts, Eye Keep Smiling has been absent from the winners’ circle since scoring at Club Menangle last August.

Elsewhere on the card, Dixon will aim for successive Oaks wins when he contests the third heat with Amylee.

With Josh Gallagher to take the reins, the daughter of American Ideal has drawn to gain a favourable run from the pole.

Amylee rounded out her interstate preparation with a soft 11-and-a-half metre win in Redcliffe on April 2.

Amylee is among the outsiders at $51 with TAB Fixed Odds, with Victorian raider Arrhythmia a $1.90 hotshot from barrier 10.

Last season’s Victorian Two-Year-Old of the Year, Arrhythmia boasts eight wins and two second from 10 starts for trainer Emma Stewart.