The Ballarat synthetic tracks plays host to Friday racing as we truck towards another big weekend of thoroughbred action and its off to Tamworth for country racing in NSW.
Time to fuel up those betting accounts to start our weekend off in the right way.
Ballarat Race 1
#7 Little Pickle
Steering clear of all the horses that have had starts in this race and going with the un-raced three-year-old filly Little Pickle.
She has had three jump outs in preparation for her debut run and meets a field with plenty of convictions their form guides.
Her two most recent jump outs were the ones that caught the eye.
She was not asked to do much on a heavy eight rated track at Mornington over 900 metres where she showed good speed throughout.
That was preceded by a 750-metre Balnarring jump out where she was pushed out to win by a half-a-length and showed a nice turn of pace in doing so.
She will settle midfield with cover and she is the one who will be sniping down the leaders late in the race if they go too hard up front.
The Jason Warren and Dean Krongold stable are going well at the moment and we will ride the wave of their momentum.
Suggested Bet: Little Pickle each-way at $8.5 the win and $2.4 the place.
Suggested Exotic: Quinella 2 & 7
Ballarat Race 4
#8 Ronay
Ronay would have to be one of the unluckiest horses in Australia at the moment.
She has either got way too far back in her last handful of runs or been strung up in behind and in between horses looking for a way clear to use her burst of acceleration to full effect.
She has drawn the widest barrier in this race which should mean she had no traffic problems in the run.
Patrick Payne his this mare going to the peak of her abilities at the moment and hopefully Alana Kelly can be positive from the barrier and not settle too far back.
If she is within three to four lengths of the leaders on the turn then she will be storming home down the outside and gobbling them up.
Suggested Bet: Ronay win at $4.4
Suggested Exotic: Trifecta – 8/ 5, 6, 7/ 5, 6, 7
Ballarat Race 5
#12 Blazing Lace
Blazing Lace is beginning to prove a little bit costly for us but willing to give her one more go in a race that looks to set up well for her.
She took a sharp rise in grade to a BM-78 over 2400 metres at Sandown last start and was simply outclassed by two city performed horses in Marcolt and Token Spirit.
The wet track did not do her chances much good either and returning to the synthetic where she showed solid form prior to the last start failure should hold her in good stead for this.
Alana Kelly claims 1.5 kilos off this filly’s back and she can run a bold race out in front at long odds.
Suggested Bet: Blazing Lace each-way at $20 the win and $5.5 the place.
Ballarat Race 8
#8 Always Sure
Happy to forgive the last start failure of Always Sure and give him a chance to atone back onto a more suitable surface.
He raced first-up on a heavy track which he clearly resented but should appreciate the synthetic surface of Ballarat and a rise in distance to 1500 metres.
Interestingly enough, Michael Dee has opted to take the ride from barrier eight and given the solid form this horse should at the jump outs, expect a spike on his improvement.
Not too fused about the rise in class either given he drops a kilo at the weights for doing so.
Suggested Bet: Always Sure each-way at $12 the win and $3.8 the place.
Tamworth Race 5
#7 Love is in the air
Young buck William Freedman saddles up Love Is In The Air in a bid to breakthrough for this three-year-old filly’s maiden victory.
Think she is well versed to do so in this race given her solid enough performances at the pronvicial circuit in much more difficult maiden races than this.
She was specked each-way in betting on debut at Kembla Grange of 1000 metres where she was just over two lengths and then drifted from $3.6 to $5 when finding 1200 metres a bridge too far.
Freedman has given her time to recover from that second start failure and comes into this off the back of a nice trial at Scone over 900 metres.
Jockey Grant Buckley should be able to punch his way through on the rails, lead and prove too strong in this race.
Suggested Bet: Love Is In The Air win at $3
