DON'T BYPASS OVERPASS IN WINTERBOTTOM

Sydney raider has won three Perth sprint features, including Nov 30 classic in 2023

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PERTH - After Port Lockroy snared the Railway Stakes on Nov 23, the second Group 1 event of The Pinnacles in Perth sees another Sydney raider and regular visitor Overpass attempt to defend his Winterbottom crown at Ascot on Nov 30.

The placement of the Bjorn Baker-trained Vancouver six-year-old has been outstanding, picking and choosing races to target and coming out successful with three feature Perth sprints in 12 months, banking nearly A$5 million (S$4.35 million) in the process.

The nine-time winner returns to Ascot rated 122 on the Timeform scale, a rating he has achieved on four occasions, yet just once in Perth, when beating Amelia's Jewel in The Quokka (1,200m) in April.

His other two Perth wins, in the 2023 The Quokka and the 2023 Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (1,200m), have rated 119, and that sort of rating again on Nov 30 would surely see him win once more.

Of the horses he is up against in the A$1.5 million renewal of Perth's premier sprint, only two have ever put up a Timeform rating above 120 - Lady Laguna and Western Empire.

Lady Laguna ran to 121 when winning the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1,300m) on March 9, but that is seeming more and more like an anomaly, with an average rating of 109.8 since.

They both come through the Group 1 Champions Sprint (1,200m) at Flemington on Nov 9.