The Hobartville Stakes meeting will be held at Rosehill Gardens this Saturday (2nd Mar). The course proper was rated a Soft 7 on Thursday and with warm and overcast weather in Sydney leading up to the weekend, Rosehill is likely to stay in the Soft range on raceday.
The Waterhouse-Bott stable has a stranglehold on the Silver Slipper with two top chances in the race (Sydney Race 4, 1100m). Straight Charge ran 2nd to Espionage in the Breeders Plate in the spring and Straight Charge can turn the table on his stablemate on Saturday. Straight Charge won his only start from a nine week break last preparation, showing a clean pair of heels when winning by just over 3 ½ lengths over 1100m. The Written By colt has won an 816m trial really well in preparation for his resumption. He can also handle any track conditions and Tim Clark knows the horse well. Clark will go to the lead and Straight Charge will run them ragged.
The in-form Jason Collett can capture another feature race win, this time on Zennzella in the Parramatta Cup (Sydney Race 5, 1900m). The 4YO mare has been very consistent this preparation having run into the money three times from three starts. She was narrowly beaten in the Gold Coast Magic Millions Trophy last start against stronger oppositions and she will drop in class and drop to only 53.5kg on Saturday. Stepping back to 1900m after a let up should be ideal. Zennzella has never missed a place on Soft track with two wins and two 3rds from four attempts. Collett will settle somewhere mid-field and Zennzella will be full of running down the Rosehill straight.
The Gary Portelli-trained Encap could be the one to beat in the Hobartville Stakes (Sydney Race 8, 1400m). This Capitalist gelding had a terrific spring campaign winning the Ming Dynasty Handicap and a close 2nd in The Golden Rose over this course and trip. The 3YO finished a good 3rd in the Eskimo Prince Stakes first-up and back to set weights condition on Saturday should suit. Encap can also handle any track conditions. Collett will settle just behind the leading bunch one off the fence and Encap will be ready to pounce rounding the home turn.
By Owens Wong
