Beaten just once in six starts this season, Anamoe will start a prohibitive favourite in his quest for an eighth Group 1 win in the Chipping Norton Stakes and trainer James Cummings cannot fault him. 

The weight-for-age star has drawn ideally in barrier three, will again have the services of champion jockey James Mcdonald and has continued to please the stable since his first-up win in the Apollo Stakes. 

"The draw is perfect for him, I think he'll get a good run in the race and we're delighted with the way he's progressed since winning the Apollo first-up," Cummings said. 

"He gets every opportunity to continue on with a sensible campaign to have him ready to go in the bigger races when they come along." 

Anamoe is $1.70 in early markets, ahead of Fangirl ($8), Mo'Unga ($8.50) and Hinged ($11). 

While Cummings is going into the race confident, he isn't taking Anamoe's rivals lightly, nominating former European and Cox Plate placegetter El Bodegon as a likely improver, while he again expects Apollo Stakes placegetters Hinged and Fangirl to prove worthy opponents. 

"El Bodegon is a better horse with cut in the ground, that's the report from Europe," Cummings said. 

"Fangirl ran the fastest last 600 (metres) of the race in the Apollo, she's drawn a soft barrier (one) to get a good run again, and Hinged….won the Surround twelve months ago and she wasn't necessarily the favoured horse to win the Surround, so she's the type of horse that could box on and run a big race." 

That trio are all prepared by Chris Waller who has a phenomenal Chipping Norton Stakes record. 

He has won 10 of the past 12 renewals with five different horses – Verry Elleegant (2021-22), Winx (2016-19), Boban (2014), Shoot Out (2012-13) and Danleigh (2011). 

Saturday's card boasts the first Group 1 races of the year in Sydney and track conditions should be ideal despite Randwick receiving 80mm of rain earlier in the week. 

It was rated a soft 6 on Thursday and with fine conditions forecast, track manager Michael Wood said the surface should continue to dry out. 

"The track really is on the better side of that (soft) six so I'm expecting improvement, probably somewhere around that soft five into a good four with a good day on Saturday," Wood said.