Randwick Racing: 2017 Breeders Classic Betting Tips
The Group 2 Breeders Classic for the mares is the feature race of the day at Royal Randwick on Saturday and looks to be a very competitive race on paper.
Of the nine runners engaged I think there are probably six realistic winning chances and the market suggests as much.
There looks to be two clear leaders here but I don’t think this will be run at a particularly breakneck speed. I think we’ll see In Her Time lead from barrier 4 with Egyptian Symbol sitting outside her from barrier 5, though it wouldn’t surprise me to see the latter take things up.
I think that will leave Magnajoy to box seat from barrier 2 with I Am Zelady possibly trying to slot in one-out-one-back from her wide gate. French Emotion should get a nice run in midfield just off the speed with Flippant, while Tsaritsa and Danish Twist will be worse than midfield. Godolphin’s sole representative Circular may end up last from barrier 8.
Nothing overly stands out here but I am happy enough to back Danish Twist who resumes from a spell here. Notably, she finished 3rd when resuming last prep over this track and distance at Group 2 level, beaten 0.2L behind two horses called Our Boy Malachi and Takedown – both Group 1 horses. She’s had an almost identical prep coming into this – a 98 day spell followed by two soft trials, so I think she’s ready to win here and I’m happy to take the $4.20.
Perhaps the biggest danger could come in the form of I Am Zelady who missed out on winning the Fillies & Mares Magic Millions race at the Gold Coast last start by a pimple. She has since put in an outstanding trial, drops 4.5kg for this and should be ready to peak at her third run back from a spell. At $6 she looks a good price.
Egyptian Symbol has two wins from four starts this prep and drops back from the 1300m to 1200m here after failing as favourite on Magic Millions day. She’s got an outstanding record at this distance having only ever missed a place once from seven starts, and should get a good run on the speed without too much pressure. At her best she is certainly good enough to win this.
You can never underestimate Chris Waller’s ability to have horses peak at the right time in these sorts of races so despite both French Emotion and Tsaritsa being better suited over 1400m-1600m, it wouldn’t shock anyone to see either of them win first up from a spell. They’ve both had two trials leading into this, both won first up before and both perform well at 1200m. With Hugh Bowman and James Doyle booked to ride, they certainly tick a few boxes and at double figure odds it would be silly to leave them out of calculations.
Peter and Paul Snowden are represented by Flippant who is a tough customer to catch. On her day she is extremely talented, as evidenced by her dominant win down the Flemington straight last prep, but you never quite know when she is going to show up. Was caught wide last start and is ready to peak, but I can’t have her on top here, especially at the price.
Interestingly, Circular has never missed a place from four first-up outings, has never missed a place at the track and has placed three times from four starts over the distance. Yet she is $26 here. She does, however, perform best over further than this and does look slightly outclassed in this field.
In Her Time has won both starts this prep but both have been in much easier races than this and she gets the dreaded bar plates on both front feet which is a punters’ nightmare. I’m more than happy to take her on here, while Magnajoy would need to improve out of sight to finish in the money.
Happy to be backing Danish Twist here and expecting I Am Zelady to run a big race. Both Waller runners stay on notice.
1st DANISH TWIST
2nd I AM ZELADY
3rd EGYPTIAN SYMBOL
4th FRENCH EMOTION
ALWAYS GAMBLE RESPONSIBLY
