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FWC on Sport Nation guideAndrew O’Toole’s Saturday best at Darwin (27/06)
Andrew O’Toole • June 27th, 2026 12:00 pm
Day 0 of the Great Northern Darwin Cup Carnival takes place today when the annual ROANT Gold Cup (1300m) is the feature on the seven-race card. It has attracted an outstanding capacity field of 12 with one emergency, and is without a doubt the best-assembled ROANT Cup line-up for many years.
The highest-rated runner, Dakota Lee, is a 106NT, while the lowest in the scale are Stormfront and the emergency Great Buy, who are both 78NT – last year when the race was divided there were numerous runners rated less than 70, further emphasising the quality of this year’s field.
With a number of horses kicking off their campaigns and some who have had a run already, working out a likely winner is difficult indeed, but I have settled on Crown Waters to continue on her winning way after her first-up victory against some of her rivals here on 13 June.
Tommy Logan’s mare is somewhat underrated but is as game as they come. She won last year’s St Patrick’s Cup in Darwin over 1600m before running fourth in the AS Cup (2000m), and the lightly-raced 5yo seldom runs a bad race. She can also mix her distances to good effect, and after winning over 1200m against Arizona Activist, Dakota Lee and company last time, the extra 100m of the ROANT Gold Cup should be very much to her liking at this stage of her preparation. Hannah Le Blanc will again have the mount and has won twice from her last four rides on the daughter of Hallowed Crown.
Marvellous mare Dakota Lee, beaten just three times in her 17-start career, simply cannot be left out of calculations, even with the steadier of 64kg. Terry Gillett’s 7yo daughter of Kuroshio won at this trip, at the first time of asking, two starts back and then was terribly game when beaten just 0.3 lengths into third behind Crown Waters and Arizona Activist over 1200m a fortnight ago. She was taken on throughout and after appearing beaten early in the home straight, rallied in tremendous fashion to go down narrowly.
She has drawn well here in barrier four and rider Dakota Gillett will almost certainly have her rolling along on top of the speed. If she happens to get a break on her rivals turning in, they will be hard pressed to run her down, although the weight is a concern. But leave her out of calculations at your peril!
Flying Yishu was an eye-catching fourth in the race won by Crown Waters, and the extra 100m looks tailor-made for him. Lek Maloney again has the ride for Greg Connor, and the AS visitor, the winner of ten of his 33 starts, should be a factor once again.
Stormfront, first-up since winning the St Patrick’s Cup on 14 March, has drawn the outside gate but one, but he is a classy conveyance and Gary Clarke will have him primed for a bold fresh-up showing. Although this is by no means his grand final, he has an imposing record and Jarrod Todd is one-from-one on the grey. Watch for him to be doing his best work late.
Zondee is an interesting runner from the Andrew Perdon stable. The former Queenslander has some decent form to recommend in strong company and he should not be overlooked. AS Cup winner Magic Defense has not had a run since her big Red Centre success so could be expected to need the run, but she has a good record over this distance. Vega Magnifico won the Bordertown Cup over 2000m two starts back in mid-December and has not started since early January, but a recent trial outing here showed he is coming to hand well.
Michael Hickmott’s pair Promises Kept and Watadeel are capable but will no doubt be better for the run, as will two-time Darwin Cup winner Hadouken, who did have a trial here recently and looked in first-class order. Wolfburn has been a grand performer for the Clarke stable since his three-year-old days and although he finished at the tail in the AS Cup, he could sprint boldly in a fresh state and won this race two years ago.
All in all it should be a great renewal of the ROANT Gold Cup, and will hopefully provide plenty of pointers to the Carnival features ahead.
The weather in Darwin this week has been perfect dry season, with clear mornings and lovely days. The official forecast for today reads: Partly cloudy. Light winds. The temperature is expected to reach 31 degrees during the day and 21 overnight. There is just a 5% chance of any rain.
The first race on the seven-race card gets underway at 1.32pm (NT time), which is 2.02pm on the eastern seaboard, while the last is timed to go at 5.04pm (NT time), or 5.34pm in New South Wales and Victoria.
BEST BETS
R1 # 1 ICHIBANWent a beauty at his first start since running third in the Alice Springs Cup when chasing home Orion The Hunter over 1300m here a fortnight ago. The step up to 1600m here should be ideal for him at this stage of his preparation. Has the inside draw to aid his chances and even though burdened with topweight, he looks very hard to beat.
R4 # 1 RUNAWAY TYCOONCreated a good impression when winning on his second Darwin start on 9 May, beating Kalimna Views comfortably over 1100m. The extra 100m here should not be an issue for the son of Written Tycoon, who will again have the services of Jarrod Todd. Ella Clarke has a nice little team around her at present and can register her tenth winner of the season.
R5 # 1 WILD BEAUWent through the grades impressively at this time last year, culminating in victory in the Montgomerie Lightning over this trip of 1000m on Darwin Cup Day. Sent south to spell after that and had a couple of warm-up runs in Adelaide in April and May. First-up in Darwin this campaign and with only four rivals, should take plenty of catching for the Ella Clarke/Jarrod Todd combination.
SELECTIONS
RACE 1 – 1, 4, 5, 3RACE 2 – 2, 7, 5, 3RACE 3 – 9, 1, 2, 5RACE 4 – 1, 6, 2, 4RACE 5 – 1, 4, 3, 5RACE 6 – 1, 2, 3, 5RACE 7 – 12, 1, 7, 10
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