Fantastic night of Harness Racing coming up this Saturday, the 23rd of February headlined by two Group 1 races at Menangle! We take a look at the Menangle and Albion Park meets and give our best bets below.
Albion Park Harness Tips
Race 1
Gasmonkey was extremely brave last start in 1:52.6 after facing the breeze. He looked to be struggling before rallying in the home straight to finish second, beaten 6.8m by Spike Bromac. The six-year-old gelding will appreciate a soft run on the pegs here as he looks to trail the leader. At worst, he will be three back on the pegs. The $13 appeals on an each-way basis and he shouldn’t be too far away from them at the business end.
Race 4
Matt Belford is a last-start C1 winner when racing in the death seat and winning by 1.1m in 1:57.7 for the 2138m. He should hold up and lead from barrier one in tonight’s C1-C2 event and the last time he was able to do that, he claimed a C1 over 1660m by 16.4m. Prior to his last start win, Matt Belford was second, once again racing in the death seat, as he was beaten 3.2m by Wheres The Spirit in 1:56.3 for the 2138m. He should prove hard to catch here.
Race 6
Mattgregor looks huge unders in this race at $1.30 from barrier seven. There are a couple of rivals that can defeat him. Maretti is one of those horses and drawing inside Mattgregor is a good start. Winning three of his past four starts, Maretti posted a 1:54.2 mile rate two starts ago for the 2138m. He worked overtime at his last start when second to Watch Pulp Fiction. Being caught three-wide for the first 800m during a 27.1 opening quarter and 28.8 second split was too much. He performed well to still run second in that event and a better run here should see him go close at a nice price. Lilac Flash is the other horse to watch for in this race.
Menangle Harness Tips
Race 5
The first of two Group 1 races to be run at Menangle tonight is the Allied Express Sprint (1609m) which features Inter Dominion and Hunter Cup champion Tiger Tara. This horse loves to draw a good barrier in big races and barrier one is perfect for Kevin Pizzuto’s beast. He will lead and Todd McCarthy will rate him to perfection as he goes on his winning ways.
Trying to find value in the race is tough. I don’t think any horse represents value in the win markets, so I have turned to the place markets in order to find some value. I think Maximan, who will trail Tiger Tara throughout, is over the odds at $2.25 to place. My opinion is that he places at least 55% of the time if this race were to be run over and over. That implies a $1.82 (rounded) chance and the $2.25 is worth a play here.
Ashley Locaz is a horse to follow and the same goes for his stablemate Thefixer. I don’t think this is the race for them but watch what they do.
Race 6
A much-more open race is the second Group 1 at Menangle with the Canadian Club Sprint. The favourite is Majordan who will lead if he behaves and can break the 1:50 mark which is what happened last start when pacing 1:49.5. This week he faces much stronger opposition and I like the price about Miracle Mile winner My Field Marshal. The barrier draw hurts but I am hoping for some early speed in the race in order to allow My Field Marshal to work home strongly. His last start was a fourth-placing in the WA Pacing Cup (2936m) won by Rocknroll Lincoln. He was successful in the Fremantle Cup (2536m) a week earlier.
Spankem and Cruz Bromac have strong claims in this event also with the 1609m something that Cruz Bromac relishes.
Race 8
The Group 2 Robin Dundee Stakes (1609m) looks a match race between Emma Stewart’s Tell Me Tales who will be driven by Chris Alford and Mark Purdon & Natalie Rasmussen’s Our Dream About Me who will be driven by Purdon. This is a heavyweight clash over the mile and Tell Me Tales can make the most of barrier one as she attempts to lead throughout.
Tell Me Tales obliterated them in the Group 1 Vicbred Super Series 4YO Mares Final (2240m) at Melton last year. There was no Our Dream About Me in the line up but the times that Tell Me Tales can run suggests she will be hard to beat. Our Dream About Me is a top-class mare from New Zealand and it wouldn’t surprise if she won, considering she is an odds-on favourite, but the price for Tell Me Tales looks good.
