The Wizard of Odds goes through his best tips and previews from the Ballarat synthetic meeting on Tuesday afternoon.
Ballarat Race 1
#9 Veterok
Veterok has been asked to do very little at his jumpouts leading into his debut run.
He presents as a three-year-old colt from the Cliff Brown stable.
Brown was a leading trainer in Singapore for over 13 years and returns to Australian soil, so will be wanting to kick off proceedings with a winner to start his tenure back home.
Interestingly, the horses he was up against in his most recent jumpout have been well backed in their respective runs.
Golden Monkey was specked each-way at Sandown and ran second in a maiden, while Set to Prophet was truckloaded in betting but failed miserably.
Veterok arguably jumped out better than those two horses and we get a fantastic each-way price.
Suggested Bet: Veterok each-way at $8 the win and $2.70 the place.
Ballarat Race 2
#4 Marimenko
Marimenko looks the sharpest horse of this lot after a very impressive Flemington jumpout.
The five-year-old gelding by Zoffany registered a second-place finish in a heat time of 49.07 over 800 metres on the synthetic Flemington surface.
Love the he surged into the jumpout as the widest runner and he picked up most of his rivals under very little riding.
He showed he can handle the surface, which is a big tick and he looks to set to make a winning debut for the Michael, John & Wayne Hawkes stable.
Would not be surprised if jockey Fred Kersley bounds to the lead in this race given the soft barrier draw.
Making him the best of the day.
Suggested Bet: Marimenko win at $3.4
Suggested Exotic: Quinella 4 & 8
Ballarat Race 6
#4 Red Peroni
The early price for Red Peroni was snapped up but he still looks a nice each-way bet at the current price.
Resumed at Cranbourne over 1000 metres and was obliged to race four wide on a heavy track with no cover.
He had to face the breeze the entire and the tough run took its toll late in the race with the four-year-old gelding fading to run sixth.
He was only beaten 2.2 lengths on the day and hits this race with a much better barrier.
The rise to 1200 metres should see him settle much closer to the lead, if not leading.
Expecting a big return to form, especially with the drop in grade.
Suggested Bet: Red Peroni each-way at $7 the wina and $2.5 the place
Suggested Exotic: Boxed Trifecta – 4, 7, 10
Ballarat race 8
#3 Taramansour
Taramansour is ready to run a peak rating race in Australia after two solid runs to get him ready for this race.
His nine-length defeat against Hosier, when racing first-up at Bendigo, reads much better than what it does on paper.
The Matt Cumani-trained horse was then a whisker away from victory last start when making the rise to 2100 metres at this very track in BM-64 grade.
That run will bring him on perfectly for this and jockey Fred Kersley just needs to negate the inside barrier.
This should be a winning effort here against opposition that have no where near as much upside as him.
Suggested Bet: Taramansour win at $3.4
