April 7 Racing Selections
Tips for this weekend cover the April 7 meetings at Caulfield, Rosehill (featuring five Group 1 races: Golden Slipper, BMW, George Ryder Stakes, Queen of the Turf and Vinery Stud Stakes) and Oakbank.
Final report card for 2011 and revised rules for 2012 tips
Results for March 31 selections
Tips which were either scratched, outside the prescribed track conditions or too short in price
Scratched – Gundy Son
Track outside prescribed range – nil
Odds too short (less than $6 SP) – Foxstar
Tips where the SP was in the $6-$9.50 range (1 unit bets)
Neriani ($7.00 SP) – unplaced
Phenomenal Lass ($9.00) – unplaced
March 31 results: 2selections, no winners
2012 results: 20 selections, 20 units bet, 1 winner, SP return of $9.00 (POT = -55%), BOB return of $9.50 (POT = -53%)
Tips where the SP was in the $10+ range (0.5 unit bets)
Over Quota ($10.00 SP, $10.00 BOB) – Won
Fast Clip ($11.00) – unplaced
March 31results: 2 selections, 1 unit bet, 1 winner, SP return of $5.00, BOB return of $5.00
2012 results: 7 selections, 3.5 units bet, 1 winner, SP return of $5.00 (POT = +43%), BOB return of $5.00 (POT = +43%)
Overall Results
March 31:4 selections, 3 units bet, 1 winner, SP return of $5.00, BOB return of $5.00
2012: 27 selections, 23.5 units bet, 2 winners, SP return of $14.00 (POT = -40%), BOB return of $14.50 (POT = -38%)
Saturday April 7
Caulfield (tips based on a track rating range of good 2 to dead 5)
Race 6 No. 2 Testa My Patience
Forgive his seventh-place finish last start (60 kilos first-up on an unsuitable slow track) and what you have left is extremely impressive. Seven wins and six placings from 16 career starts; four wins and two placings from six runs over 1400 metres; two wins and two placings from four races at Caulfield; a win at Group 2 level last spring. Barrier seven should allow him to get a nice tow into the race from midfield or thereabouts in running. Interestingly, he is also one of Glen Boss’ rides on a day where such a quality jockey would ordinarily be in Sydney for five Group 1 races – hmmm….
Race 7 No. 12 Folding Gear
In a 2000-metre race where seven horses will carry 58.5 kilos or more and 10 horses 57.5 kilos or more, I’m looking down in the weights at this promising and lightly-raced galloper. While he has only had nine runs to date in his career, he has run third at Group 2 level as a three year-old in his only previous attempt at this distance, while last spring he ran second in the Group 3 Eclipse Stakes over 1800 metres. His two runs this preparation have resulted in a fast-finishing fourth over 1400 metres when resuming and then a luckless sixth in the Bendigo Golden Mile last start. Expect the rise in distance and improved race fitness to hold him in good stead here.
Rosehill(tips based on a track rating range of good 2 to dead 5)
Race 2 No. 3 Temple Of Boom
While he’s a Rosehill debutant (indeed, it has been a while since he raced anywhere other than Flemington), his recent form lines should stack up to a race such as this quite nicely. His last four runs have resulted in being beaten less than four lengths in the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap, running sixth to Black Caviar in the Group 1 Lightning Stakes, running third to Sister Madly in the Group 2 Salinger Stakes and winning the Group 2 Gilgai Stakes. His early career runs were up in Brisbane so racing clockwise should present no problem and with nine wins, nice placings and almost $880,000 in prize money from 27 starts, he is up to the class of this Group 3 event. He is potentially the forgotten horse of the race and likely to be over the odds.
Race 8 No. 1 King Mufhasa
He is likely to either lead alone or share the lead with Niagara and may be able to set a soft to moderate tempo and turn the race into a ‘sit and sprint’ affair. If that occurs he will be extremely hard to beat. His last seven races have resulted in four wins and three seconds, including wins in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap, Group 1 Captain Cook (in New Zealand) and Group 1 Futurity Stakes. His best previous results in this race are a pair of third placings, but he is in career best form and I think he can go two better.
Race 9 No. 4 Crafty Irna
This mare really starts to come into her own around the 2000-metre journey, with a win in the Group 3 Adrian Knox Stakes and a second to Lamasery in the Group 3 Kingston Town Quality at her only two previous runs at the trip. She put the writing on the wall last start when second to Fibrillation in the Group 3 Epona Stakes when third-up over 1900 metres. She drops down from 57 to 54 kilos for this race and from barrier two should be able to slot in wherever Craig Newitt decides to place her.
Oakbank (tips based on a track rating range of good 2 to dead 5)
Race 7 No. 1 Periduki
An out and out speedster, he should be nice and fresh (four wins and two placings from 10 previous first-up runs) after an unsuccessful last campaign in Melbourne against better grade sprinters. In the preparation prior to that, he won four races in a row (and five out of six) carrying large weights; the 59.5 kilos this time should come as no shock to his system. While he has never run at Oakbank before, the tight turning track should suit his front-running style.
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Thanks to Matt King/Getty Images AsiaPac for use of the photo
