2 weeks Ago By Brad Gray
Race 1 – 11.30AM ATC BOOKMAKERS RECOGNITION DAY HANDICAP (1100 METRES) 3. Hidden Motive was beaten on his merits first up at Warwick Farm, but there were five lengths back to third.
He raced a touch keen in the early stages, which proved decisive in a close finish. Before that, the Nathan Doyle-trained colt had won two trials in good style. On debut in October, he ran a luckless fourth in the Breeders’ Plate behind King Kirk.
North England ran third, which ties the form into 1. Beskar . Has got the tactical speed to offset the barrier.
Beskar wasn’t helped by engaging in a bumping duel in the straight in the Kindergarten Stakes first up. It looked to put him off stride. Must respect that he was hammered in late betting to jump $3.
50 favourite. Back in grade, fitter, maps to get the same run and finds James McDonald. 11.
Akaysha impressed when winning at Kembla Grange on debut. There were two lengths to third and the time was four lengths faster than the class 1 a race later. Before that, she had held her own alongside Beskar in a Randwick trial.
How to play it: Hidden Motive to win. Know Thyself (right) takes out the Country Championships Final on day one of The Championships at Randwick. Credit: Getty Images Race 2 – 12.
05PM MIDWAY HANDICAP (1100 METRES) 10. Sunrise won by a widening seven lengths at Kembla Grange first up, breaking the 1000m track record despite the surface being rated a soft 5. It was a blistering exhibition of speed from the Mitch Beer-trained mare.
She gave nothing else a chance from in front. That appears the best way to ride her. The former Kiwi has now had a preparation for Beer, and if that performance is any guide, she’s all the better for it.
Her form tapered off at the back end of the campaign, but she had perhaps had enough by then. Looks well paired with Rachel King. If Sunrise is there to be picked off late, 3.
Photographics should be stalking from the perfect gate. The John Sargent-trained filly just has to tick off the 1100m box. Her three previous wins are all over 1000m, including one in Midway company.
A soft run will help. The market has the two key chances well cornered. 8.
Mad Darcey gets a pass mark for a Hawkesbury first-up sixth. She could have found the line better, but she’s already a two-time Midway winner and has a great Randwick record (3:2-1-0). How to play it: Sunrise to win.
Race 3 – 12.40PM TAB HIGHWAY HANDICAP (1000 METRES) 1. Massira was beaten by the barrier in a 1000m Randwick Highway in early March.
He jumped from 16 of 16 and had to be dragged back through the field to find cover having begun as well as anything. He was then asked to quicken with 61.5kg, going down narrowly.
It was a blanket finish, but edging past She Within, Kreon and Exit Fee reads well for this. The four-year-old carries 60kg after the claim of Braith Nock and draws better. In his three prior runs for Matt Dale he beat Idle Flyer before running second to Catch The Glory and Weeping Woman in benchmark company.
The son of I Am Invincible hasn’t raced for eight weeks, with no official trial, but he would have had a jumpout or two at home. 9. Miss Rebel is a lightly raced five-year-old mare that was pipped by Cambar in a Highway last campaign.
That was over 1100m on a soft track. She spent 94 weeks on the sidelines before that campaign. Looked sharp in a recent Scone trial win, running a fast time.
15. Speedy Henry was the first horse backed when markets came out. He’s untapped having won two from two.
How to play it: Massira to win. Race 4 – 1.15PM JEFF PENDLEBURY HANDICAP (1000 METRES) 1.
Zealously had his chance at Warwick Farm first up over 1000m, but a rock-hard fit Wondereach kicked back to get the verdict on the line. There was nearly three lengths back to third. The run suggests that a soft track will be fine for the three-year-old going forward.
With his mind on the job, having been gelded last campaign, he charged through the grades with emphatic wins at Kembla, Wyong and Canterbury. He finished fourth behind Private Harry and Lady Of Camelot in the Sunlight in Queensland. Should be able to tag 6.
Passeggiata throughout. Passeggiata hasn’t won for just shy of two years. In that 12-run sequence she has finished second on four occasions.
She lacks late strength. Always trials like a rocket, and it’s no different this time back winning her two trials by a combined nine-length margin. Rachel King has ridden her six times for two wins and three seconds.
5. Smashing Time will likely find 1000m too sharp, but his trials suggest he has come back well. Will be charging late.
Just needs to stay in touch. How to play it: Zealously to win. Race 5 – 1.
50PM TOM BINGLE HANDICAP (1800 METRES) The gamble with 1. Star Vega is whether this is one run too soon. However, there is enough in the price to take the punt.
The Anthony and Sam Freedman stable send the five-year-old to Sydney second up on the back of an inconclusive return in the listed Golden Mile at Bendigo. He settled out the back in a sprint home on a good 3 track. This is a very different set up.
The five-year-old jumps to 60kg but drops back to benchmark company for the first time in six runs. In spring he was competitive against the likes of Berkeley Square and Kingswood. Punters left the cash in the bag at Hawkesbury first up, confidently backing 3.
Saganti . He went down narrowly to 4. State Of America , but is better placed out to 1800m on a soft track.
He meets the winner 1.5kg better off and finds James McDonald. We’ve only seen the French import twice in Australia, running a close-up fifth in the Rosehill Gold Cup as a $7 chance behind Fawkner Park.
State Of America remains an underrated horse. He had a fitness advantage over Sanganti, but wasn’t suited back to the mile third up. How to play it: Star Vega each way.
Race 6 – 2.25PM TERRY MARSKELL HANDICAP (1200 METRES) 6. Step Aside has residual fitness going into Saturday with nine weeks between runs.
The five-year-old races well first up with one of his only fresh blemishes coming last time in when he dropped the jockey. We can forgive him that. The blinkers stay on, too.
That might prove to be a key lead as to his chances. He won when they went on third up last time in. James McDonald is booked and the pace promises to give all runners their chance.
The son of Redwood moved nicely in one trial, doing his best work through the line. Punters saw everything they needed to see. He looks to have come back well.
Just won’t want the track to be too wet. That’s the knock, but if it stays on the better side of soft, he should handle it. 3.
Piastri has been scratched a number of times since he ran in Queensland first up over 1000m. He found the journey too sharp on a good track. The stable is chasing wet tracks with the gelding, scratching multiple times since that last start.
Hence the six-week gap. Has won three from five on soft ground. 10.
Inavder Zim’s best run last campaign came first up when second to Disneck. His form tapered off thereafter. He loves wet ground.
It all comes down to tempo for 2. Deprivation . He looked flat first up at Warwick Farm but once he didn’t lead, it was game over.
He is a control freak. It was the first time he tackled 1100m, too. Out to 1200m suits better.
He’ll give a sight from in front pending early pressure. How to play it: Step Aside to win. Race 7 – 3PM NEVILLE WATERS HANDICAP (1200 METRES) 2.
Lonhro’s Queen has won six of her 10 starts for Cameron Crockett. The Scone-based trainer is bullish that the four-year-old mare is in career-best form after first- and second-up wins. The evidence suggests he is right.
She loved the wet conditions on her home track over 1000m, rounding up her rivals to win going away. She then jumped favourite in a Hawkesbury BM72, and again she gave her rivals a start before mowing them down. This sets up perfectly against the mares.
6. Monte Kate did enough first up at the midweeks when fifth to Ballroom Bella. That was as a $9 chance.
1. Memoria ran fourth as a $7 chance. Yet, there is a huge discrepancy between their prices on Saturday.
Beat Left Field and Wooloowin over 1200m before spelling. 7. Pajanti has won her past two first up.
Last time in she beat Memoria, who was $1.60 favourite, first up on a soft track over 1200m. Her form tapered off thereafter.
Memoria’s advantage here is that she is hard fit and makes her own luck. Has held her form all through the preparation so far. How to play it: Lonhro’s Queen to win.
Race 8 – 3.35PM PRECISE AIR HANDICAP (1500 METRES) 10. Wootton Verni being an import tackling this 42 weeks between runs and with Chris Waller all points to him needing the run.
However, a half-fit Wootton Verni could still prove too classy for these. The five-year-old was a late nomination for the Cox Plate when first bought by Go Bloodstock. He beat Sunway in France in May, with Sunway since franking that form in the French Derby, Irish Derby, King George, St Leger and Arc.
You get the point. There’s great depth to his international form. Wootton Verni appears very well treated with a rating of 93.
He returns having undergone surgery to repair a fissure (hairline) fracture, but has trialled nicely since on two occasions. James McDonald rides. 13.
Green Fly chased down 18. Cool Jakey at Rosehill despite giving away what appeared to be an impossible start. He had taken a run to fire in the past with his second-up record reading 5:3-0-1.
This race sets up perfectly, three weeks between runs, out to 1500m and the prospect of another soft track. 3. Ducasse likes wet ground, too.
Comes back slightly in grade having run third in a leader-dominated Doncaster Prelude. How to play it: Wootton Verni WIN Race 9 – 4.15PM NSW BOOKMAKERS CO-OP HANDICAP (1400 METRES) The early market has decided that now is the time to drop off 1.
Sydney Bowler . Starting to think it might be time to jump on at odds. The gelding burst onto the scene as a three-year-old winning his first three starts as he moved through the grades.
A barrier mishap at the Gold Coast followed by a joint issue sidelined the son of Deep Field for 59 weeks. He resumed with a luckless fourth at Canterbury as a $3.90 chance.
He then raced flat at Wyong, as horses often do second up after a lay-off. Then at Hawkesbury he was shuffled back in the run and had to fan widest. Strikes it fourth up, and he won on a soft track on debut.
15. Engine Room is untapped. He ended his first campaign with a second behind Snitzanova, who won two stakes races at her two subsequent starts.
The market expected the son of Super Seth to resume a winner at Warwick Farm, and he delivered, despite still doing plenty wrong. 10. Colophon gapped his rivals having led at Kembla Grange last start.
That’s a new career peak at start nine. There might be more to come. How to play it: Sydney Bowler each way.
Race 10 – 4.50PM TAB HANDICAP (1600 METRES) 1. Know Thyself took his record to five wins from eight starts when landing the biggest victory of his career in the Country Championships Final at Randwick.
Had to settle in the second half of the field from the wide draw, but it mattered little, chasing down his rivals to leave them without an excuse. The progression out to 1600m looks perfect now. As does the prospect of a rain-affected track.
His only recent failure came first up this time in when not appreciating a good 3 at Tamworth, failing as an odds-on favourite. Lumps 61kg in this company, but it looks to be a race with limited winning chances. 12.
Kind Words was kept fresh for the Provincial Midway Championships Final, staying at 1400m second up. She ran well but raced like she wanted the mile. Her last 200m was the fastest in the race.
Being held up momentarily didn’t help either. Want to trust the form through the race. Was a third-up winner last preparation, but out to 2000m.
The barrier makes things problematic. Over to you J-Mac. 5.
Fukubana worked home well behind Know Thyself three weeks ago. His only previous run over the mile was in the Randwick Guineas last year. How to play it: Know Thyself to win.
Supplied by Racing NSW Full form and race replays available at racingnsw.com.au.
