Red Can Man, Ex Sport Man and Hoi An among strong list of Albany gallopers entered for Ascot feature races

A host of talented Albany gallopers have been nominated for the major feature races over the Ascot summer carnival. The leading stables of Steve Wolfe and Roy Rogers make up Albany’s representation in the Masters feature race nominations. Star galloper Red Can Man, who has returned from a successful Victorian campaign, is among a long list of entries for Wolfe. Rogers’ sole representative is talented filly Hoi An, who returned to racing last Saturday in the 3YO Classic. Wolfe has three horses nominated for the $1million Railway Stakes (1600m) on November 20 but conceded it was unlikely he’d have a starter. Red Can Man has only just returned to work after a short let-up following his trip back to WA, while stablemates Watch Me Dance and The Spruiker are also long shots at starting in the Group 1 feature race. The $500,000 Group 2 WA Guineas (1600m) for three-year-olds on the same day has attracted Beads, Ex Sport Man, Hear Me Sing and Knot Secret from the Wolfe camp along with Rogers’ Hoi An. Red Can Man is the sole local entrant in the $1million Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) on November 27. Ex Sport Man, Hoi An, Knot Secret, The Spruiker and Watch Me Dance are among 91 entries for the $1million Kingston Town Classic (1800m). “Red Can Man is unlikely for the Railway, he’ll probably run out of time,” Wolfe said. “He’s only been back in work a couple of weeks. He’s a fresh horse and might even step straight into the Winterbottom, that’s a more likely target for him.” Wolfe said his leading WA Guineas chances were Ex Sport Man and Knot Secret. Ex Sport Man was a brilliant winner of the Group 2 Karrakatta Plate and finished second in the WA Sires while Knot Secret ran fourth in his only career start as a two-year-old in July. “The only real chances in the Guineas is Ex Sport Man and Knot Secret,” Wolfe said. “Ex Sport will start in the Belgravia (Stakes) and the Fairetha (Stakes) and he’d be the only likely to get to the Kingston Town. “Knot Secret is a nice horse in the making but may be six months away so unless he really shows something I’m not sure he gets to the Guineas.” Wolfe said The Spruiker deserved his place in the nominations, having won five successive races at Belmont during the winter. But a path through the Mt Barker Sprint and Bunbury Stakes was more likely. The Spruiker will return from a break in three weeks and Watch Me Dance has been scratched from this Saturday’s Group 3 Northerly Stakes and is set to start in the Burgess Queen Stakes (1400m) on Melbourne Cup day.