Facts on the Australian Guineas

AUSTRALIAN GUINEAS

Run at Flemington, 1600m, $1 million. Three-year-olds

HISTORY

* First run in 1986 when won by True Version

* 1998-2000 run over 2000m

NOTABLE WINNERS

* Zabeel (1990); Triscay (1991); Mahogany (1994); Baryshnikov (1995); Flying Spur (1996); Mouawad (1997); Reset (2004); Al Mahar (2005); Apache Cat (2006); Miss Finland (2007); Shamrocker (2011); Mosheen (2012); Shamus Award (2014); Palentino (2016); Hey Doc (2017)

TALKING POINTS

* Mighty Boss will be out to claim the Caulfield Guineas-Australian Guineas double

* Aloisia and Bring Me Roses will take on the males aiming to become the first filly since Mosheen in 2012 to win

* Grunt will be attempting to win the C S Hayes-Australian Guineas double and follow Zabeel (1990); Mahogany (1994); Dash For Cash (2002) and Hey Doc (2017) as the only ones to do so

* Noel Callow, Craig Newitt, Damien Oliver, Craig Williams, Greg Childs, Michael Clarke, Darren Gauci, Greg Hall and Danny Nikolic – all with two winners – share the riding record

* Lee Freedman and the late Colin Hayes – each with three winners – share the trainers’ record

* Mick Price will be aiming for his third win when he runs Mighty Boss, Grunt and Holy Snow. Previous wins were with Light Fantastic (2008) and Heart Of Dream (2009)

WHAT THE KEY PLAYERS ARE SAYING:

“It’s a very good race and a very deep race but I’m happy enough to be on him and wouldn’t swap him for anything else.” – Cliff’s Edge’s jockey John Allen

“She gets the benefit of the fillies’ weight and barrier one. Hey Doc won this race last year from barrier one so I’m hoping we can get a similar result.” – Tony McEvoy, trainer of Bring Me Roses

“His two lead-ups have been excellent. He’s probably got to lift a little bit but his second run was better than his first.” – Muraaqeb’s co-trainer David Hayes

“He’s been pretty impressive every run he’s been in so far this campaign, bar for his last start, and he’s up there with some of the better three-year-olds that I’ve ridden.” – Embellish’s jockey Opie Bosson

“He’s got a good draw. He should settle midfield and hopefully get one crack at them.” – Main Stage’s co-trainer Trent Busuttin