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22 August: Saturday Preview

friday night racing at the valley
Fri 21st August 2020

Spring is nearly upon us, with the first Group 1 of the season – the Winx Stakes (1400m) – headlining things, but there’s plenty more to keep track of on Saturday with plenty of good horses going around…

Randwick

There’s plenty of Group racing on Saturday in Sydney, as well as the talented Kinane resuming later in the day…

Race 4 – Group 2 Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m)

We saw a fairly uninspiring Quezette Stakes for the three-year-old fillies in Melbourne, with little exciting me going forward out of that race.

Here, the Sydney fillies have their chance, with See You Soon, Dame Giselle, and Redoute’s Image all lining up and dominating the market.

Redoute’s Image has the fitness edge over her rivals here and looks the most likely winner, but I’m very keen to see how Dame Giselle resumes as a three-year-old, after racking up $862,000 in prizemoney in her juvenile season.

Race 5 – Group 3 Show County Quality (1200m)

Chris Waller opted to run Funstar here as it provided a better platform for her Epsom Handicap tilt before a possible Golden Eagle or Cox Plate run. I think she’s well enough found at $2.90 over the 1200m, with her best no doubt coming up in trip. I’m keen to side with Special Reward ($5.50) at the price, with Probabeel ($13) and Inanup ($11) also worth watching.

Race 6 – Group 3 Toy Show Quality (1200m)

Adelong is the class animal here, resuming after a 10-week break and should have some residual fitness. She’s a $26 chance in The Everest, and will make her own luck from the front of the field. She is a skinny price, but should be getting the job done. If they’re able to run on, River Bird ($19) looks overs and could be included in exotics.

Watch: Adelong’s impressive last start win

Race 7 – Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m)

The first Group 1 of the season looks an absolute cracker, with some of the best horses in the country locking horns. Click here for an in-depth preview.

Race 8 – Benchmark 88 Handicap (1400m)

Kinane is the obvious one to watch. He made headlines after his ownership group knocked back massive purchase offers from Hong Kong following his win in the Group 3 Frank Packer Plate in the autumn.

Kinane is a $13 chance in the Epsom Handicap and an $11 chance in The Metropolitan, as well as a $21 quote in the Caulfield Cup markets. This is the first step towards those lofty targets.

Moonee Valley

So Many Shorties!

Lots of short-priced favourites here who could be vulnerable if the rain continues to fall in Melbourne and we’re greeted with a heavy deck…

It obviously won’t hurt to be near the speed at the Valley, especially if the rail is favoured in run. In the first event, Coming Around won well last start, but at $1.90 and mapping back, I’m happy to hold fire and see how the track is playing.

The same can be said for Jenni’s Rainbow in Race 3, who caught the eye with her win at Pakenham, but must translate that performance on the synthetic to the turf, and from the back of the field. Montia looks an nice each-way bet in that race.

If I was to back one favourite early in the day or include in multis, it’d be Tailleur in Race 2, with this talented Godolphin galloper mapping to get a nice run on the speed and looks very tough to beat.

Watch: Jenni’s Rainbow’s debut win

Flying Award

This colt is certainly worth a watch in Race 6. He looks the most progressive type here and is at $12 in the Caulfield Guineas market. Hard Landing has the fitness edge and may win here, but Flying Award is the one to follow.

West Is Best?

Willie Pike brought the house down with Showmanship in the last at Caulfield last week, and finds himself on another promising WA invader this week in Windstorm. This is a seriously talented galloper and looks the class animal in the field. Very short at $2.05, has drawn out and maps back. You may get closer to $3 on the day which is more palatable for a tricky setup at the Valley.

Brooklyn Or The Jungle?

The feature event on the card is the Listed Carlyon Stakes (1000m), which sees mudlark Jungle Edge come up against the exciting Brooklyn Hustle.

If the rain keeps coming down then Jungle Edge must be a show, with Brooklyn Hustle’s racing style often relying on luck coming from the back of the field, especially with the inside draw, looking like she’ll need another parting of the seas to make it through here.

Watch: Brooklyn Hustle’s exciting last start win.

From Muswellbrook to the Melbourne Cup, Will is mad about all things racing and sport. Spent countless hours in the backyard as a child pretending to be Glenn McGrath, and has been known to get deadly late swing with a taped tennis ball.

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