Australia Racing Preview for 2/14/2014
by Grant Davies
Okay, first of all let’s dispense with the mandatory “Happy Valentines Day” ~ I’m just hoping my present comes in the form of a great day of betting at the track!
Big day at ‘Headquarters’ or as most people know it Flemington Racecourse. We have a few graded races to look at and of course the highlight of the day in the Grade 1 WFA Black Caviar Lightning stakes down the straight! Let’s see if we cannot make some money.
The rail will be true today, which means no disadvantage to the swoopers, so it should be an even day of racing.
FLEMINGTON – AUS A
RACE 1 - TALINDERT STAKES LISTED 1100m of $120000 (AUS)
Always an interesting affair this race, and again we have a few debutants to try and measure into calculations. DUCAL CASTLE chased Bugatty on debut then good in BD Preview so this might be his main aim if they have conceded his diamond chances. SHARAPOVA and THE SPITFIRE have not been seen at the trials so really not sure, but both were expensive purchases so you’d be hoping they possessed some ability! BETCHER on the other hand paid a visit to the trials; I actually liked what I saw! CORAM showed serious ability on debut then spelled, the fresh run seemed just to be a sharpener to my eye and he came out with a great jump out here with blinkers on during the week.
SELECTIONS – CORAM / DUCAL CASTLE / SHARAPOVA
RACE 5 - THE MITTYS VANITY GRADE 3 1400m of $150000 (AUS)
SCRATCHY BOTTOM was pretty good first up and did what she had to on the day. She stays at the 1400m which is a minus to me, but big track, long straight, so she can swoop. SOLICIT is weighted here to get a nice trail and should be one of the hardest to beat. She won well fresh last campaign and proved she was a class act. SENSIBILITY was in-between some very good horses in a Grade 1 last time seen, so the question really is has she come back better for that? GIRL IN FLIGHT is a nice filly; she showed a stack of class last prep and can measure up in this company. We all saw SPIRIT OF HEAVEN's track wide first up last week so she deserves another chance here.
SELECTIONS – SOLICIT / SCRATCHY BOTTOM / GIRL IN FLIGHT
RACE 6 - CS HAYES STAKES GRADE 3 1400m of $150000 (AUS)
POLANSKI did not get to race last week as was planned but his recent trial was excellent. THE QUARTERBACK came back in fine form at Caulfield (very impressive closing splits too) and he ran by PRINCE HARADA who was solid and can only be fitter. One thing for sure is that both will benefit from the big space at Flemington and the rise in distance. HUCKLEBUCK was wide and too good for KUSHADASI in Adelaide, most importantly; they really ran a good time. CRITERION looks good and he has trialled nicely up in Sydney. WORTH A RANSOM can jump in your multiples but the pace and his position will be very important to his chances today.
SELECTIONS – POLANSKI / THE QUARTERBACK/ PRINCE HARADA
RACE 7 - BLACK CAVIAR LIGHTNING GRADE 1 1000m of $500000 (AUS)
This is a great edition this year! SNITZERLAND is a serious horse and we all know it. Her recent trial was the fastest 900m trial since 2007…YES…2007! SAMAREADY won G1 Moir Stakes last prep and made Buffering look average, so that’s got to signal a serious threat. BERNABEU went like a machine up the straight here in a jump out last week and had SHAMEXPRESS almost unable to keep in touch, he ran fast time too. UNPRETENTIOUS is now proven WFA which is a huge tick in this race. THERMAL CURRENT looked strong in jumpouts.
SELECTIONS – SNITZERLAND / SAMAREADY / BERNABEU
Okay, first of all let’s dispense with the mandatory “Happy Valentines Day” ~ I’m just hoping my present comes in the form of a great day of betting at the track!
Big day at ‘Headquarters’ or as most people know it Flemington Racecourse. We have a few graded races to look at and of course the highlight of the day in the Grade 1 WFA Black Caviar Lightning stakes down the straight! Let’s see if we cannot make some money.
The rail will be true today, which means no disadvantage to the swoopers, so it should be an even day of racing.
FLEMINGTON – AUS A
RACE 1 - TALINDERT STAKES LISTED 1100m of $120000 (AUS)
Always an interesting affair this race, and again we have a few debutants to try and measure into calculations. DUCAL CASTLE chased Bugatty on debut then good in BD Preview so this might be his main aim if they have conceded his diamond chances. SHARAPOVA and THE SPITFIRE have not been seen at the trials so really not sure, but both were expensive purchases so you’d be hoping they possessed some ability! BETCHER on the other hand paid a visit to the trials; I actually liked what I saw! CORAM showed serious ability on debut then spelled, the fresh run seemed just to be a sharpener to my eye and he came out with a great jump out here with blinkers on during the week.
SELECTIONS – CORAM / DUCAL CASTLE / SHARAPOVA
RACE 5 - THE MITTYS VANITY GRADE 3 1400m of $150000 (AUS)
SCRATCHY BOTTOM was pretty good first up and did what she had to on the day. She stays at the 1400m which is a minus to me, but big track, long straight, so she can swoop. SOLICIT is weighted here to get a nice trail and should be one of the hardest to beat. She won well fresh last campaign and proved she was a class act. SENSIBILITY was in-between some very good horses in a Grade 1 last time seen, so the question really is has she come back better for that? GIRL IN FLIGHT is a nice filly; she showed a stack of class last prep and can measure up in this company. We all saw SPIRIT OF HEAVEN's track wide first up last week so she deserves another chance here.
SELECTIONS – SOLICIT / SCRATCHY BOTTOM / GIRL IN FLIGHT
RACE 6 - CS HAYES STAKES GRADE 3 1400m of $150000 (AUS)
POLANSKI did not get to race last week as was planned but his recent trial was excellent. THE QUARTERBACK came back in fine form at Caulfield (very impressive closing splits too) and he ran by PRINCE HARADA who was solid and can only be fitter. One thing for sure is that both will benefit from the big space at Flemington and the rise in distance. HUCKLEBUCK was wide and too good for KUSHADASI in Adelaide, most importantly; they really ran a good time. CRITERION looks good and he has trialled nicely up in Sydney. WORTH A RANSOM can jump in your multiples but the pace and his position will be very important to his chances today.
SELECTIONS – POLANSKI / THE QUARTERBACK/ PRINCE HARADA
RACE 7 - BLACK CAVIAR LIGHTNING GRADE 1 1000m of $500000 (AUS)
This is a great edition this year! SNITZERLAND is a serious horse and we all know it. Her recent trial was the fastest 900m trial since 2007…YES…2007! SAMAREADY won G1 Moir Stakes last prep and made Buffering look average, so that’s got to signal a serious threat. BERNABEU went like a machine up the straight here in a jump out last week and had SHAMEXPRESS almost unable to keep in touch, he ran fast time too. UNPRETENTIOUS is now proven WFA which is a huge tick in this race. THERMAL CURRENT looked strong in jumpouts.
SELECTIONS – SNITZERLAND / SAMAREADY / BERNABEU
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