The market sees Saturday’s Champagne Stakes largely as a contest among three last-start winners — Manaal, Linebacker and Broadsiding.

Manaal takes the most conventional route into the 1600-metre Group 1 as her recent win was in the ATC Sires’ Produce a fortnight ago.

Since the Champagne was extended to 1600 metres in 1972, 32 Sires’ winners have contested it for 14 wins, seven seconds and five thirds. In all, 44 two-year-olds have completed the double in 158 years.

Of the last 29 Champagne winners, 26 have had their last start in the Sires’, and 22 of those 26 finished top-four in the earlier race.

Linebacker is attempting a rarer feat — winning the Champagne while undefeated. The only horse to achieve that in the past 30 years is Pierro, whose Champagne win gave him a record of six starts for six wins including all three legs of Sydney’s juvenile triple crown.

Linebacker on the other hand has started only twice, for wins in a Hawkesbury juvenile maiden and the Group 3 Baillieu Stakes.

Four horses have completed the Baillieu-Champagne double in the past 18 years — Mentality in 2006, Onemorenomore in 2009, Skilled in 2010 and The Mission in 2017 — but they’ve all had a run in between.

Broadsiding backs up off his win in last week’s Fernhill Handicap. The only horse this century to complete that double — Prized Icon in 2016 — was also trained by James Cummings (in his pre-Godolphin days).

Saturday’s other major is the All-Aged Stakes, which contrary to its name has become a race mainly for the young.

Nine of the past 12 winners have been aged three or four, while Cascadian (2022) is the only seven-year-old winner this century. The only older winner in the race’s 158-year history was Tim Whiffler, who scored his second All-Aged win aged eight in 1871.