The Warwick Stakes meeting will be held at Warwick Farm this Saturday. The weather will stay fine in Sydney for the next few days so I anticipate the track will be a Good 3 on raceday.
Melbourne racing will be held at Mooney Valley this weekend. The track was rated a Dead 4 on Thursday and with few showers forecast for Melbourne, I expect Mooney Valley to remain in the Dead range on raceday.
In the opening event at Warwick Farm (Sydney Race 1, 2200m), the top weight Travolta can turn the table on Sacred Flyer. Two starts ago at Rosehill over 2000m, Travolta got nosed out by Sacred Flyer having to give the Waller-trained gelding 3.5kg. There will be a 1kg turnaround in weight on Saturday and that will be enough for Travolta to gain the upper hand this time around. From barrier 7, I expect Travolta to go forward and settle outside the leader for an uninterrupted run under his big weight.
In the Comfort Inn Hunts BM85 (Sydney Race 2, 1600m), I was a little disappointed with the last run of race favourite Burbero. I expected him to finish off much better than he did on a drier track. I like the Waterhouse-trained top weight Charing Cross. This gelding has struggled a little lately. Down in class and back in distance will suit him better on Saturday. He has won his only start at Warwick Farm & has a good record over 1600m. Barrier 4 will give Rawiller plenty of options on where to settle the horse. Currently Charing Cross is an $8.00 chance in the fixed odds market and that represents a value bet.
In the Group 3 Up & Coming Stakes (Sydney Race 5, 1300m), I am a big fan of the unbeaten Pitcrew. He has a freshen up since his last start win over 1400m. Back to 1300m on Saturday looks ideal. Stepping up to Group level for the first time but he has the talent to achieve black type success. I expect the Anthony Cummings-trained Drago to finish the race hard as he is being prepared for the VRC Derby, so the 1300m on Saturday does appear to be a bit short for him. At $5.50 fixed odds, Pitcrew is my pick for the Up & Coming Stakes.
The Group 2 Warwick Stakes is the feature of the day (Sydney Race 6, 1400m). It’s hard to go past the speedster Rain Affair. His last start victory in the 1200m Missile Stakes was breathtaking. The gelding went straight to the lead and kicked away in the straight to win by 5.5lengths. I expect Rawiller to use the same “catch-me-if-you-can” tactic on Saturday. Most of the runners in the Warwick Stakes are stayers resuming from their spell and with fitness on his side, it’s hard to see Rain Affair getting beaten.
By Owens Wong, Editor
