Welcome to our horse racing preview and betting tips for racing at Caulfield on Saturday, January 25th.
The two Blue Diamond Previews for the two-year-olds headlines today's card, along with the Listed John Dillon Stakes. The track is rated a Good 4 with the rail in the 6m position.
We've gone through every race on the card and given our tips and best bets below!
Caulfield Racing Tips: Saturday, January 25th
Best Bet: Race 8 - (5) Yulong January
Best Value Bet: Race 5 - (5) Grand Admiral
Competitive race to kick things off. I'll be backing (8) Score for John Sadler and Dwayne Dunn. She resumed with an impressive victory at Mornington where she recorded the fastest final 200m of the entire meeting. Second up, up to 1100m looks to suit and she should be charging home from off the pace. (4) That Girl ran 2nd in her first two starts this prep before copping an awful ride as favourite last start, where Teo Nugent himself admitted he got it all wrong. If you backed her on that occasion you probably have to back her again here, but Phillip Stokes has had no winners from 20 runners at Caulfield this season. (1) Exquisite Beauty has two wins from four starts this prep and was only narrowly beaten last start. Probably better suited at Caulfield with the inside draw and the stable are flying. (5) Mariama and (6) Llessur both ran well behind Modear last start - ahead of Exquisite Beauty - and are chance again in an open race.
(5) Write Your Name and (9) Regal Riffle look the two leaders here, and they're the two I'll be backing. I expect Mick Price's horse to kick through and lead, and she should give a pretty good sight based on her last start effort behind Goldifox at Flemington. She keeps improving with each run and looks a bit of value at $7.50. Write Your Name should sit outside her. He bounced back to form last start after disappointing the run prior. A repeat effort would see him go very close again. (1) Ocean Deep recorded the fastest final splits of the race when finishing 4th first up. She should improve stepping up sharply from 1100m to 1400m second up, but whether she can lug 59kg coming from the back of the field is the query. (3) Titan Blinders has a bit of a tricky map but can win.
Value: (9) Regal Riffle $7.50
(5) Write Your Name
$4.80
(2) Hanseatic is the current Blue Diamond favourite so if he's to justify that price, he'd want to be going very close to winning this. He was impressive winning stylishly on debut at Sandown, coming from back in the field to run home over the top of his opposition. He was put away after that and makes his reappearance today. Drawn wide which could be a bit tricky over 1000m at Caulfield, but hopefully he can find a three-wide running line and come home over the top again in the straight. The horse he might need to run down is the Hayes, Hayes, Dabernig trained (8) Fixated, who jumped straight to the front and coasted home nicely in his only Flemington jumpout. He looks professional and if he can find the front with some sort of ease, that will put him in the race for a very long way. He's a bit of value at $7.00 and juveniles from this stable always demand respect. (1) Tanker was good on debut before failing in Sydney, while I'm respecting the early money for the John Price-trained (9) Mr Have A Chat, ridden by Damien Oliver.
(7) Fresh bolted in on debut at Geelong, sitting outside the leader before coasting home by 3L without being asked to do a great deal. She starts from a wide barrier here but she should come across to likely sit outside the leader once again. The Snowden stable is going really well at present and this filly looks to have a bit more to offer than what she was let show on debut. Anthony Freedman has three runners in the race. (6) Award Winner won on debut at Bendigo, beating a horse that then came out and won its next start at Flemington. I'd say out Mark Zahra is one of his go-to jockeys so his booking here catches the eye. Ben Melham is on (9) Supreme Idea, who, like Fresh, won easily at Geelong on debut and looked to have plenty more in the tank. Fresh and Award Winner the two for me.
Value: (6) Award Winner $7.00
Competitive little race. Interested in backing the Ciaron Maher-trained (5) Grand Admiral, who won his debut at Echuca and now comes straight to the 3YO race in town. The blinkers go straight on and so does Craig Williams, two big ticks. His time was only fair and he didn't light the track up, but this stable is flying and those two factors should bring about a fair bit of improvement. He's also nominated for Monday and Wednesday so we'll see if he does line up. (1) Wilmot Pass is the horse to beat, coming off a strong win at Sandown over 1200m. Up to 1400m looks ideal but he has to carry more weight than the rest of them today. (11) Shush was impressive winning easily first up. This is a much harder race but she can be competitive, as can the stablemate (8) Zero Doubt.
(5) Grand Admiral E/W
$10
Quite keen on (4) Street Sheikh each way here, with a pretty strong bet on the $2.00 available for the place. His first two runs were terrific before he went to the Camperdown Cup for essentially what was an easy kill. He bolted in by 3.25L and now returns to the track and distance he ran 2nd at two starts back. Overall, he's placed in 20 of his 23 career starts. He's never missed a place at the track and distance, and from eight starts at the mile, he's finished top three in all eight. The draw is a little tricky - he'll get back a bit - but he should finish in the money somewhere. Happy to have a 1x5 sort of bet at $5.50/$2.00. (9) Mount Tabora has found form this prep and is suited third up at the mile. (8) No Commitment can be thrown in at double figure odds, third up from an 88-week spell. Might still need more racing but he drops 9kg in the weights today and his old form is good enough for this. (3) Beau Balmain will be the horse to follow out of the race going forward.
(2) Our Campana has won five of her past eight starts and I see no reason why she can't win again here. It's another competitive race but she's flying and carries a similar weight to what she did last start when saluting over this track and distance. (10) Propelle has been crying out for a positive jockey change and she gets it today with Craig Williams booked to ride, taking over from Damien Thornton. She needs to prove herself beyond 1000m but she's been unlucky all prep and gets her chance with Willo aboard today. (7) Golden Halo and (9) Lady Lupino the two to watch first up. Our Campana and Propelle the two for me.
Value: (10) Propelle $8.00
This will be an interesting tactical battle. (5) Yulong January is obviously the form horse of the race. He was made to earn it last start, which brought up his fifth win in succession. He took a sit that day but prior to that he'd had good success leading and kicking away. It will be interesting to see if they go try to lead here or be happy to sit back and let it unfold. In any case, he's the one they have to beat. (9) Fox Hall might be a bit overlooked in the market. He's got a terrific first up record with four top-two finishes from five starts. He resumes from a long spell and is first up over 1400m, but this is about the only stable I'd be OK with doing so. (6) Guizot goes terrific at this track and third up should be peaking. (8) Morvada is the one to test Yulong January for the lead, just as he did last start when beaten narrowly by the favourite. (3) Snitzkraft goes terribly second up but can bounce back third up.
Another tricky race to close out the card. (10) Salon Du Cheval is flying since coming to Victoria from Lindsey Smith's WA stable. He's won both starts this prep at Warrnambool and although he steps up pretty sharply in grade here, he's capable of measuring up. Lindsey basically said he's got the horse going as good as he can and the horse is probably better suited up to 2000m. (9) Sir Pippin draws the inside and should prove tough to beat off his past two runs. (2) Rising Red is third up from a long spell and put the writing on the wall with a much improved effort last start. His best form would probably win this.
(10) Salon Du Cheval E/W
$6.50
