The Wizard of Odds goes through the Wednesday cards from Cranbourne and Canterbury to deliver us the best bets for midweek racing.
A Matt Laurie first starter has caught the eye at the jump outs and looks one of the best of the day.
Cranbourne race 1
#3 Golden Ridge
Matt Laurie has a fabulous knack of getting these juvenile horses to win early in their careers and Golden Ridge looks no exception.
Loved the way he jumped out at Mornington over 900 metres back on May 26.
After jumping cleanly, his jockey restrained him to sit midfield with cover and he travelled beautifully under a tight grip.
He was then slipped a bit of reign and quickened up nicely after very light riding.
Ben Melham takes the ride and when he combines with the Laurie stable he has a 9% ROI rate.
Making this first starter the best of the day.
Suggested Bet: Golden Ridge win at $4
Cranbourne Race 4
#5 Kanmoreu
Kanmoreu might still be a maiden but he gets a fantastic chance to break through for victory against a very basic field.
His main danger is the favourite Ventisette but she does not seem have to the same talent or sharpness as the Chris Waller gelding.
The three-year-old by Street Boss put the writing on the wall last start with a solid third-placed effort at Kembla Grange when racing on the pace.
He plugged away well to finish a length behind the eventual winner.
That run is going to give him a perfect fitness platform to catapult off while rising in distance to 2000 metres.
Expect jockey Damien Thornton to roll along up front and get this average crop of middle-distance horses to chase him from a long way out.
Suggested Bet: Kanmoreu win at $4
Suggested Exotic: Boxed First Four – 3, 5, 7, 8
Cranbourne Race 8
#3 Reliable Dude
Reliable Dude is probably not the most reliable horse to back given his poor winning strike rate but he gets a race to suit.
His run against the obvious on-pace track bias at Sandown last start was enormous given how far back he settled in the run.
He was specked in the betting at $26 and rattled home down to the outside to finish in third spot just under two lengths away from Sarodec who was the eventual winner and the leader throughout.
Damian Lane has taken the ride off Liam Riordan and from barrier one expect this horse to be much closer to the lead speed than last start.
Not too worried about the rise in weight given the drop in class to midweek provincial grade.
Looks one of the better bets at Cranbourne.
Suggested Bet: Reliable Dude win at $4
Suggested Exotic: Boxed Trifecta – 3, 6, 8, 10
Canterbury race 1
#2 Santorini Sun
The debut of Santorini Sun should have her well versed to break her maiden status in this Canterbury 1250 metre event.
The two-year-old filly from the Ciaron Maher & Dave Eustace stable settled midfield in a field of nine runners and ran on well to finish third behind Divina.
What makes her really attractive here is she has had a run at the course and distance will only need to improve another length or two from a fitness perspective to be easily beating this field.
Most of her main dangers have had a run over 1100 metres which is arguably not the greatest platform to run a strong 1250-metre race.
She has drawn a barrier where she can get a cover and produce her turn of foot without impediment.
Best of the day from Canterbury!
Suggested Bet: Santorini Sun win at $2.45
Canterbury Race 6
#5 Yukon
Get your Sharpie out and put a line through his last run.
After starting a $10 elect in town at Randwick over 1300 metres when resuming from a spell, he was three deep in a fast run race with no cover and hooked to be one of the widdest runners on the turn.
When he was asked for an effort he lost his action and tailed out to finish and be beaten out of sight.
He drops back to Wednesday grade and has had a little freshen-up to get over any issues he may have had during and after his first-up effort.
If we look back to this win over the mile last preparation it was a run that would easily measure up in a race of this nature.
Brenton Avdulla should be able to ping him to the lead from barrier one and hopefully boot clear at the top of straight to open up a winning margin.
Suggested Bet: Yukon win at $3.8
Suggested Exotic: Boxed Trifecta 4, 5, 8
