The Sydney metropolitan meeting will be held at Royal Randwick this Saturday. The course proper was rated a Good 4 on Thursday and with showers forecast for Saturday, Randwick is likely to be racing on a Soft track on raceday.
The Cox Plate meeting will be held at Mooney Valley this weekend. The course proper was rated a Good 4 on Thursday and with overcast weather in Melbourne leading up to the weekend, Mooney Valley could border on Good/Soft condition on raceday.
The Chris Waller-trained Luiza was impressive winning on her debut and she can take out the opening event at Mooney Valley on Saturday (Melbourne Race 1, 1000m). The I Am Invincible filly was in the lead last start and sprinted home in quick time in 33.44 secs for the last 600m. Waller will put blinkers on Luiza for the first time to sharpen her up. Hugh Bowman will have to go forward on the filly after drawing barrier 11 on Saturday and Luiza will be the one they have to catch.
Course specialist Gun Case has been unbeaten at this track & trip and should make it 3 from 3 in the City Jeep Handicap (Melbourne Race 2, 955m). This lightly raced 6YO has a tremendous record over the sprint trip winning 5 times with 2 further placings from 10 starts at this distance. And he can handle any track conditions. From a wide gate (13), Mark Zahra will go forward and sit outside the leader and Gun Case could be hard to catch.
He Or She was outclassed in the Caulfield Stakes last start finishing 3rd behind Winx and Black Heart Bart and he will be much better suited in the Schweppes Crystal Mile (Melbourne Race 7, 1600m). The 6YO gelding has come back well this campaign with placings in the Makybe Diva Stakes, the Underwood Stakes and last start in the Caulfield Stakes. Dropping back to the mile actually suits him better and this field on Saturday is nowhere near as strong as the Caulfield Stakes which will be much more to his liking. Dwayne Dunn is riding in career best form and he’ll be on board He Or She in the Crystal Mile.
Defending champion and race favourite Winx has gone into odds-on quote after drawing favourably in barrier 3 in the Group 1 Cox Plate (Melbourne Race 9, 2040m). There is a distinct lack of pace in this year’s Cox Plate with trainer Leon Corstens indicating that Awesome Rock may well go forward and lead. And that plays into the hands of Winx as she has the best turn-of-foot in this field who can accelerate off a slow pace. Winx has been very much in-form winning 12 straight races, she is the highest rated horse in the race and she is proven at this track and trip with a nice gate on Saturday. And also consider how the race will be run, Winx is all set to win back to back Cox Plate.
By Owens Wong, Editor
