Victorian racing from Werribee gets us underway for a new week on the calendar.
The best bets arise early on the program with the first and fourth races giving us the best value.
werribee race 1
#7 bella babe
Bella Babe is a two-year-old filly who has jumped out stylishly prior to her race debut.
Ciaron Maher & Dave Eustace prepare this galloper by Group 1 winning sire Invader and she seems to have really come to the fore with early speed as a juvenile horse.
Her most recent jump out was an effort where she pinged the inside gate and skipped along out in front without being urged for an effort.
Teodore Nugent is one jockey you like to have on a horse which leads as he usually gets his sectionals and timing out in front down pat.
Assuming the stable is going to want to adopt similar tactics to what it did in the jump out, which will make this filly hard to beat.
Suggested Bet: Bella Babe win at $3.20
Suggested Exotic: Boxed Trifecta – 1, 2, 4, 7
werribee race 3
#8 Mctaggart
McTaggart is a beautifully-bred colt from the Chris Waller stable which is on debut and looks screwed down enough to be running a big race.
The two-year-old has had three Flemington jump-outs to his fitness, manners and experience up to par.
His most recent effort at Flemington was super, and he ran slick time in 46.08.
It gives us the impression that his speed will take him a long way early in his career.
He is the fresh horse on the scene here and does not have the convictions on his career CV compared to the rest of the field.
Brett Prebble has taken the trip to Werribee for this, his only ride on the card, and it will be hard to see this galloper being rolled.
Suggested Bet: McTaggart win $2.20
werribee race 4
#1 Culloden Moor
Culloden Moor found himself in too hard of a race to be competitive in the last start, and he comes back to maiden grade here.
He raced at Caulfield in the VOBIS Gold Stayers Final and was purely outclassed, so coming back in grade and distance seems a much better strategy.
Celine Gaudray claims 1.5kgs off his back, and he does have a solid effort at this distance range, which will hold him in good stead against opposition in this race yet to race over this distance.
They should be optimistic about the barriers and use their solid fitness base to outstay this field and turn it into a stamina-sapping contest.
Good each-way odds and worth a play.
Suggested Bet: Culloden Moor each way at $10 the win and $3.10
Suggested Exotic: Boxed Trifecta – 1, 2, 4, 8
Werribee race 7
#6 lily allez
I am taking on the odds-on favourite and residing in the camp of Lily Allez.
The four-year-old mare is first-up off a spell, which is usually an excellent way to bet in these 1000-metre races.
She has been building nicely through her jump-outs, and fitness will not be an issue here, having had three efforts in preparation for the resuming run.
With the favourite carrying 63kgs and a fair bit of pressure on up front early in the race, Mikaela Lawrence can slide along from the inside barrier and pick off the field late in the race.
As we have come to know with Patrick Payne runners, they are all taught to settle and finish off strongly, and this looks like a textbook set-up for a horse of that ilk.
Suggested Bet: Lily Allez win at $4.8
Suggested Exotic: Quinella 3 & 6
