Winterbottom Stakes 2021 Tips, Preview & Best Bets

Run under Weight-For-Age conditions, this feature has held group one status since 2011 with champion past winners that include Placid Ark, Miss Andretti, Takeover Target and Buffering who won two editions (2013 & 2015).

At $2.45 with bookmaker.com.au, Elite Street is favoured to defend his Winterbottom crown.

Unfortunately, we didn't see the best of Elite Street in a short Melbourne prep following his Winterbottom win last year and clearly something was amiss, as he was below par when retuning to Perth.

Given the winter to freshen-up after a midfield finish in the Belmont Stakes, he's back on track with three spring wins from as many starts, completing the hat-trick despite spotting weight to every rival in the Colonel Reeves.

Now better suited under WFA conditions, the five-year-old is going better than his lead-up to winning last year's Winterbottom, a huge win considering he covered ground and was forced for home early.

From barrier 10 with his racing pattern, the defending champ is perfectly drawn for Brad Rawiller, where from cover off a good speed, he'll again look to charge over the top of them late.

While he was reportedly always going to need the run first-up in that Colonel Reeves, this Steve Wolfe-trained gelding was specked late ($12-$10) and performed well, beaten just over a length on the line.

Boxing-on, but just peaking on the effort late, Red Can Man strikes me as the biggest improver from that lead-up event, finding his best Melbourne effort second-last last prep off a return that wasn't as strong.

It's always been a juggling act trying to find the right distance range for this galloper, who was aimed towards a Railway Stakes last year and backed-up seven days later into the Winterbottom.

He doesn't quite run out the mile, with a fast-run 1200-1400m suiting him best and ideally tucking in just behind Indian Pacific and co, McGuddy's best chance would be trying to pinch that break before Elite Street gets warm.

This seven-year-old is going to be back and looking to run on with the likes of Graceful Girl and Stageman, but has as much claims off that same map as the Bob Peters pair, yet is a much bigger price.

The Bernie Miller and Patrick Carbery combination is one of the more underrated duos in the west, with Carbery having been aboard for all nine of Cup Night's victories, a gelding with a good overall strike rate.

Attacking the Winterbottom Stakes first-up has clearly been plan a long way out with this runner, who has been building superbly with every trial, storming home late to take out the last of those on November 15.

Cup Night is simply better suited around the sprint trips, missing in last year's Railway/Kingston Town before sprinting fresh to win the Northam Stakes (1100m) in May, and isn't without a sniff here.