Racing at Canterbury and Sale greets us for the main mid-week meetings in New South Wales and Victoria.
The Wizard of Odds has found a three-year-old gelding who is expected to bounce back into form.
Good luck, punters.
sale race 5
#7 Zoutellus
Won very stylishly at Pakenham over the mile to bring up his maiden career victory two starts ago and that was followed up by a last start failure on a very wet track at Moonee Valley.
The Ken & Kasey Keys-trained runner was very well backed in that last start failure and clearly resented the sloppy conditions but gets his chance to atone here.
Jye McNeil takes the ride from barrier three and he should be able to settle handy to the lead.
This three-year-old gelding has a good base of fitness and will benefit from a dry Sale track and a long straight to wind up his run.
Each-way all day to start the day at Sale.
Suggested Bet: Zoutellus each-way at $6 the win and $2.10 the place.
Sale race 6
#5 Mr Roger
Mr Roger was very brave in defeat last start after leading for all bar the last five metres of the race at Pakenham over 1600 metres on March 18.
He was nabbed on the line by Dirt On Harry who had the suck run in behind him but he should be ready to roll along out in front today, boot clear in the straight and hold on to a winning margin.
His main danger is the Peter Gelagotis-trained Boss’n the Moss who will likely press towards the lead like our selection.
Mr Roger does have the advantage of an extra run under his belt to be able to handle the step-up in distance to 1728 metres.
Jye McNeil needs to proactive and use that fitness edge to try and bust open the Gelagotis galloper in the early and mid-section of the race.
Happy for our selection to sit oustide the lead as well if Jason Maskiell wants to take him on in the lead.
Suggested Bet: Mr Roger win at $3.7
Suggested Exotic: Trifecta – 5, 9/ 4, 5, 9/ 2, 4, 5, 9
Sale race 7
#4 Cernan
Cernan looks ready to rock ‘n’ roll at his third-up run this preparation.
His two resuming runs have been pass marks and he now has the base of fitness to be able to run strongly over the more suitable 2200 metres.
He was half the price of Green Ivy in the same race at Moonee Valley over 2040 metres last start and it looked like a case of fitness and not handling the tight confines of Moonee Valley which brought him undone that night.
Gets a very soft barrier where he will do no work in the run and should be able to save his energy for late in the race.
Love that he gets the larger surroundings of Sale to really stretch out with his stride and a much longer straight to flatten out and hit top gear.
Any rain about would do his chances no harm either but regardless, very content to have another each-way bet here.
Suggested Bet: Cernan each-way at $7 the win and $2.4 the place.
Suggested Exotic: Trifecta – 2, 3, 4/ 2, 3, 4, 8, 10/ 2, 3, 4, 8, 10
Canterbury Race 1
#3 Echo Point
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Echo Point gets a favourable set-up to break through for his maiden career victory here.
He clearly resented the wet track last start when having to sit outside the lead and fading away late in the race to finish fourth beaten by just over four lengths.
Gun front-running jockey Tim Clark opts to stick with the ride despite the last start failure and that is always a good sign.
Clark was in good form for us on the weekend when getting the cash on Yaletown and expect to adopt similar tactics to on this horse: lead, boot clear, get all the challengers chasing him and gasping for air.
Suggested Bet: Echo Point win at $4.8
Suggested Exotic: Quinella 1 & 3
Canterbury Race 7
#4 Lina's Hero
Interesting that Chris Waller has elected to hire Josh Parr to the take ride on this six-year-old gelding.
Lina’s Hero was originally trained by Tony Vasil before being shifted overseas to Hong Kong.
He has since returned to Australian shores and has put in two solid runs this campaign and looks set to peak into this race.
Parr being booked could be a clear sign of connections wanting to lead in this race and it might prove the winning move given Canterbury’s proneness to playing on-pace when the track begins to dry out.
His run last start against Yao Dash and Star Spangled Rodeo – who have since won Saturday metropolitan races – suggests the form from that race stacks up well.
Looks one of the better bets on the program at Canterbury.
Suggested Bet: Lina’s Hero win at $3.4
Suggested Exotic: Exacta 4 & 10
