Gary Crispe says More Joyous will have to be at her best to win Canterbury Stakes More Joyous ridden by Nash Rawiller. MORE Joyous, the Queen of Sydney racing, has the tactical speed and acceleration to eclipse one of best sprint fields seen in years in the Group 1 $350,000 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill Gardens today. But form guru Gary Crispe said although More Joyous boasts the highest Timeform rating of any runner in the big race, she will have to run close to her best to win the ninth major of her career and beat in-form Melbourne sprinter Moment Of Change. "This Canterbury Stakes would do justice to any Group 1 sprint field," Crispe said. There is champion mare More Joyous and crack three-year-old Pierro, plus other Group 1 winners Moment Of Change, Happy Trails, Mid Summer Music, Secret Admirer and Solzhenitzen and Group 2 winner Rain Affair - it is pure quality. More Joyous is racing for her third successive Canterbury Stakes, equalling the record of Holdfast, who completed a hat-trick of wins in this race way back in 1930-31-32. Crispe said More Joyous has a peak Timeform rating of 128 but she averages around the 122 mark when resuming. "More Joyous has an outstanding first-up record of six wins and two placings from only eight starts," Crispe said. Her race record clearly reveals she produces her best form in the autumn with eight of her 10 starts during this period resulting in victory. She generally rates around the 122 mark first-up, a number that is still sufficient to see her right in the finish. Gai Waterhouse trains More Joyous and Pierro and finds it hard to split her champions today. Crispe said Pierro, unbeaten in eight Sydney starts, needs to improve on his comeback win in the Hobartville Stakes last month. "Pierro's win in the Hobartville was full of merit, running to a Timeform rating of 121," Crispe said. His best rating last spring was 123 in the Caulfield Guineas so he is still well below best Timeform rating of 127 returned when winning the Champagne Stakes last April. Crispe believes Moment Of Change is capable of producing an upset and beating the star Waterhouse duo today. "I am happy to stay with Moment of Change, who brings a Timeform rating of 125 with him, courtesy of his narrow defeat in Australia's premier sprint, the Newmarket Handicap at Flemington a fortnight ago," Crispe said. Only lightly raced, Moment Of Change resumed with a second to his stablemate, world champion sprinter Black Caviar in the Lightning Stakes, where he ran to a 123 rating. He lifted that to a 125 Timeform rating with his narrow Newmarket loss and if he runs to that rating today, he is the horse to beat and makes him a better value bet than either More Joyous or Pierro. In overnight TAB fixed odds betting, Moment Of Change was $4.80 behind More Joyous and Pierro at $2.50.