Elsewhere, Saturday’s Rosehill card is headlined by the Run to the Rose (Race 7) over 1200m with a number of horses looking to force their way into the field for the first Group 1 of the Sydney racing season on September 10.
Never one to shy away from spruiking the chances of her horses, Gai Waterhouse this week declared undefeated colt El Divino to be right up there with the top three-year-old colts that she’s had.
It’ll be interesting to see if this half-brother to Winx can measure up to the level of ecclesiastical hype anointed to his name.
With the harbour city’s deluge of rain this week seeing the track rated a Heavy 8 at the time of writing, El Divino’s runaway win on a similar surface at Gosford on debut gives every indication that he won’t be troubled by the conditions.
Although it must be said the calibre of opposition will be much stronger on the weekend.
Our traders aren’t entirely convinced by Gai’s hyperbole though and we’re encouraging the punters to come and take us on.
The Hawkes camp are having a successful run of it with their three-year-olds and we’ve got plenty of respect for current market elect Star Turn, who looked like a horse going places after a handy win in the San Domenico a couple of weeks back.
With Capitalist out of contention, the Snowden’s will be represented by Mediterranean, who admittedly was blocked for a run halfway down the straight but was still entitled to get past Thronum in the Rosebud and meets a field with more depth here.
Godolphin won this race with Exosphere last year and they appear to have a strong hand in affairs once again with much interest centred around the performance of Impending, who was somewhat of a late starter as a juvenile as a result of weak sesamoid bones which hindered his development.
Our traders are inclined to agree with John O’Shea’s assessment that he may turn out to be a “special little horse” and, on the strength of some solid trial form, we’re expecting him to show up for Brenton Avdulla.
Stablemate and Silver Slipper winner Astern has been amongst the best backed runners in early betting having drawn perfectly in three and we’re also looking for him to figure prominently.
Connections are hoping he can claim the prize outright after he was forced to share the spoils with El Divino when the pair dead-heated in an eventful Kindergarten Stakes back in April.
Tips and Preview provided by UniBet.com.au