The Golden Rose meeting will be held at Rosehill this Saturday. Fine weather has been forecast for Sydney throughout the week and I expect Rosehill will be racing on a Good 3 track on raceday.
The Dato Tan Chi Nam Stakes meeting will be held at Mooney Valley this weekend. The track was rated a Dead 4 on Thursday and with light showers forecast for the next 2 days, Mooney Valley is likely to be racing on a Dead surface on raceday.
In the PJ’s Irish Pub Parramatta BM75 (Sydney Race 2, 1500m), the unbeaten The Special Two looks the one to be on in this race. This John O’Shea-trained filly has been progressing through the grade nicely and is ready to step up to BM75. The step up to 1500m 3rd up is not a problem specially she is out of a Zabeel mare. On the limit weight (53kg) and having drawn barrier 4, Jason Collett would give The Special Two a nice run in transit settling mid-field.
I like another John O’Shea-trained horse in The Paslode Sprint BM79 (Sydney Race 3, 1100m). Shelford’s first up 2nd over this distance was a good effort. This lightly raced 4YO is an improving type. Hugh Bowman will take over the rein on Saturday and from barrier 5, Shelford will settle just behind the leader ready to pounce in the straight. In a very open race, Shelford is good value at $6.50 in the fixed odds market.
The Group 1 Golden Rose for 3YO is the feature race of the day (Sydney Race 7, 1400m). The race favourite is the Melbourne boom horse Prince Harada. This Tony Vasil-trained colt has tremendous potential and is set for the Caulfield Guineas. But having drawn barrier 1 concerns me as there are some fast horses outside him like Eurozone, Fast ‘N’ Rocking and Sidestep. For an inexperience horse like Prince Harada, he could easily get swamped in the first 200m and lost momentum. I like the Darley horse Sidestep. He was the runner-up in last season’s Golden Slipper and has been badly interfered in his past two starts. He even sustained a deep cut on his fore leg in his last start but Darley has reported that Sidestep is over his problems. Two weeks ago before the running of ‘Run To The Rose’, Sidestep was visibly obvious with a big belly and that showed me that the horse still has a lot of improvement left in him. Sidestep will be much fitter on Saturday and meet the other horses on level weight. Currently at $12.00 fixed odds, Sidestep represents great value in the Golden Rose.
The Melbourne feature race, the Dato Tan Chi Nam Stakes (Melbourne Race 6, 1600m), Super Cool looks a strong winning chance. The 4YO ran a terrific 3rd last start behind Atlantic Jewel in the Memsie Stakes. The step up to 1600m on Saturday will suit him well and so will his regular rider Michael Rodd getting back on board. His trainer Mark Kavanagh has reported that Super Cool is quite forward in condition which is a good sign. And he can handle the tight turning Mooney Valley as he had won on the track before. He can justify his Caulfield Cup favouritism by winning Saturday’s Dato Tan Chi Nam Stakes.
By Owens Wong, Editor
