Welcome to our preview and horse racing betting tips for racing at Bendigo on Wednesday, October 30th.
The Group 3 Bendigo Cup headlines the nine-race card, with five horses still in Melbourne Cup contention among the field.
The track is rated a Good 4 with the rail in the true position, and you can check out our preview and betting tips for the card below.
Bendigo Cup Day Preview & Betting Tips
Best Bet: Race 4 - (12) Oasis Girl
Best Value: Race 9 - (8) Paremuus Boy
Race 1
Only a small field of six runners but this is a competitive little race! I'm not particularly keen on the short odds but (6) Zoujea goes on top. She returned from a spell with a nice win at Sale to break her maiden tag. She recorded the fastest final 200m, 400m and 600m of the entire meeting that day, so with the minimum weight and the good draw today she should be able to take the step up in grade. (1) Cosmic Ruby needs firm ground and she gets that here. She'll lead and will take plenty of catching. She won by over 4L last start at Cranbourne. Trainer John Sadler has had four winners from his past 11 runners so the stable is in form. (2) Beautiful Bee has placed in seven of her eight starts this prep, including two wins. She will be hitting the line hard. (4) Ultra Smart goes well fresh with three placings from as many starts. She's drawn the inside gate for in-form apprentice Campbell Rawiller. Notably, trainer Pat Carey is yet to train a single winner outside of Mornington this season.
Race 2
Tough race to bet into here as we have a $2.90 favourite that hasn't trialled publicly. That's (2) Hay Cliffy, who makes his debut as a four-year-old here. They've obviously been very patient with him and while he hasn't trialled publicly, he has had two jumpouts in the country that I managed to find. He jumped out at Bendigo on October 2nd, where he settled behind the leader and made nice ground to the line. Then he jumped out at Kyneton on October 16th, where they let him run along in front and he accelerated nicely away from the field. Damien Oliver is a particularly eye-catching jockey booking here for small trainer Arthur Pace. That suggests they're very serious about this horse's chances, so continue to monitor the market. I suspect he'll be hard to beat. With that said, I'm with (7) Showcase The Gold for John Sadler, who gave this horse a good push through the week. He's also jumped out fairly well leading into his reappearance today. As mentioned in the Race 1 preview, John Sadler has had four winners from his past 11 starters so the stable is firing. Drawn an inside gate and I think he'll take a fair bit of beating. (3) Showbag looks over the odds at $26.
(7) Showcase The Gold
$3.70
Race 3
Going with the unraced (7) Kinane here. He's had tw jumpouts at Cranbourne leading into his debut. The first one was only fair but he improved nicely from that one to his second one. He settled off the pace and he looked to be outpaced early in the straight, but once asked for an effort he really picked up nicley late to run into 3rd and bypass two other horses who had a good headstart on him. I thought it was a really nice effort. Drawn nicely, Damien Oliver goes on and he should prove hard to beat. (8) Manhattan Spector was well backed on debut but was beaten over 7L on debut at Cranbourne. I'd suggest he's better than what that run suggests he is. He drew wide, settled a long way back and just never really got into the race, even though he ran 4th. Up in trip second up today and drawn to sit closer. He should improve significantly.
Race 4
Very keen on (12) Oasis Girl here. Three horses in this race all had their last run at Seymour on October 20th: (7) Sea Dragon, (10) Tempo and (12) Oasis Girl. They ran over 1200m, 1200m and 1300m respectively. Sea Dragon recorded his final 600m/400m/200m splits in 34.03sec/22.88/11.76; Tempo recorded times of 35.40/23.83/12.07; Oasis Girl ran 34.32/22.82/11.54. So I'll happily take Oasis Girl as the pick of those three. Her win last start backed up a luckless performance first up from a spell, where she was badly held up from the 400m-50m mark. That was about four weeks ago, and four horses have subsequently come out of that race and won their next start, including the winner of that race Broadwayandfourth, who was impressive at Moonee Valley in Listed grade. It's a very strong form reference. Oasis Girl looks to have returned in super form, she draws well and should prove extremely hard to beat here. (4) Diasonic was impressive on debut and beat a horse that was absolutely truckloaded in betting. He came from back in the field, swept around them and won pretty strongly. Drawn inside here but he looks a good chance here on that debut effort. I'd be quite happy backing Oasis Girl pretty heavily here, with a saver on Diasonic.
Race 5
This is a very shifty race and confidence here isn't great so I'll take a stab at one at odds. (7) Lord Of Darkness has had two runs back from a spell now and should be ready to win third up at the mile. His sole career victory came over this distance and from the inside draw I expect we'll see him ridden much more positively. He's lightly raced and can still improve, I think we'll see a good showing from him at double figure odds. (6) Sentimentalist can be a bit hit and miss but Meech goes on today and so he might find himself leading, which is how he won over this distance last prep. (5) Sir Harald is out of a stable that's going well at the minute so can be included.
(7) Lord Of Darkness E/W
$12
Race 6
Interested in (3) Haski here at each way odds. He's had two runs back this campaign after being off the track for the best part of 18 months. He blew out the cobwebs first up and then improved sharply last start, where he was held up until the 200m mark and chased solidly into 3rd. He's got a good third up record with two wins from three starts, so expect him to improve again, and he's run in the top two at both starts at this track. Looks a good each way chance at $7.00 in an open race. (8) Never Again is another each way chance at $9.50. Young 4kg apprentice Will Price takes the ride and he's had a great start to his career, riding six winners from his first 46 rides. The horse goes well first up, with two wins from three starts and he'll be running home out wide late. (9) It's Not There is an interesting runner. I've never heard of the trainer Julie Schmidt and she's only got a very small team but this horse goes OK. He won first up and then ran 4th at The Valley last start with a big weight. Drops in weight today, Dwayne Dunn is booked to ride and draws well in barrier 2. Not hopeless at all. He's a $9 chance. If I were playing this race early, I'd have something on all three at the odds ($7.00, $9.50 and $9.00 respectively), but Haski is the main selection.
Race 7
Another tricky race. (9) Screenager will be a popular favourite after winning on debut at Kyneton, where she ran the fastest final 400m split of the entire meeting. I think she'll take a lot of improvement from that race because she really only knuckled down late in that race and she looked as if she still had plenty to learn. I think she's going to need to improve because this is a decent little race. But she probably can. Oliver is booked and she's drawn well, so she'll get her chance. (4) Cilauro is a bit of value at $7.00. He ran 3rd to Chicago Cub first up and that's a good form reference, and he followed that with a 2nd placing last start. Third up today, up to his preferred distance and should be right around the mark. He's rarely far off. (7) Day On The Drink could be worth throwing in the quaddie. He was good through the line last start and his only career victory came third up last prep, where he bolted in by 3L. Daniel Bowman and Declan Bates are a good combo and he's over the odds at $18. (6) The Last Napolean is also a chance.
Value: (7) Day On The Drink $18
Race 8 - G3 Bendigo Cup
The G3 Bendigo Cup is a bit of a headache and a difficult betting race. I've landed on (4) Brimham Rocks, who is a horse I've been with a couple times this preparation. I was very keen on him in the G1 The Metropolitan two starts back, but he had to settle a long way back after an early squeeze and he's not at his best on soft ground. He then contested the G1 Caulfield Cup last start and was caught three and four wide without cover throughout the entire race. You can basically forget his past two starts and look back to his win at Caulfield three starts ago. Michael Walker, who rode him to victory at Caulfield, goes back aboard today, he's drawn well in barrier 8 and this is a very winnable race for a horse I thought could win a Group 1 two starts back. $6.00/$2.25 each way looks a decent each way option. (2) Raheen House started around $6 in an Ebor Handicap two starts back in the UK. He didn't really get around Caulfield all that way on his Australian debut, so I'd be respecting him here even with the wide gate. (7) Sully is knocking on the door with a couple of good recent performances but I thought he should have won two starts ago and he's become a little bit of a tease with just two wins from 18 career starts. (11) Top Of The Range is peaking and his run in defeat last start was huge. He's had three runs back from a spell now and Willie Pike comes across to ride him, so I'd be throwing him in the quaddie at the very least. (14) Rupture is the interesting runner, coming off a combined winning margin of 10.25L in his past two starts in weaker grade.
Race 9
Three I'm interested in here. (1) Marcel From Madrid should prove tough to beat. He won first up at Ballarat before being absolutely butchered in a Listed race in Adelaide last start. He was well backed and should have won with any luck but it was an extremely painful watch for all who backed him. He'd just have to run to his best to win this. (3) Royal Order is always a good each way chance first up. He won first up over 1300m at this track last prep and has never missed a place from four starts fresh. (8) Paremuus Boy is at double figure odds and is worth throwing in your numbers. He was beaten less than a length first up and he normally improves second up. The fact he managed to place first up indicates he's come back really well, because that was the first time in five attempts he's finished in the money when fresh. Drawn well and Yendall takes over from the 4kg apprentice so I'm expecting him to run very well.
Value: (8) Paremuus Boy $11
(1) Marcel From Madrid
$2.40
Race 10
(9) Irish Butterfly has the potential to rise through the grades and has already shown promise with two wins and a 2nd from three starts. He returns from a decent spell today as he had a stress fracture in his shoulder, but Henry Dwyer gave him a decent push and he finds a winnable race given how progressive he looks. (3) Victoria Star has been good since arriving in Australia, with a sound effort first up at Moonee Valley followed by a last-start win at Pakenham. He might be better suited on soft ground which is the main query, as all three career victories have been on soft ground. (4) Write Your Name has finished in the top two in six of his nine career starts and draws the inside gate so is an each way chance. (5) Power Dream definitely should be included in quaddies. He's finished in the top two in his past four starts and the stable is flying. He's drawn well, has two wins from three starts at the distance and looks as if he can run another big race here at double figure odds.
Value: (5) Power Dream $15
(9) Irish Butterfly
$3.90
