It is a great day of racing to commence the New Year in 2021! The Horse has picked out the best bets across the main metro tracks including Flemington, Canterbury, and Mornington - and also found one at Pinjarra. Find his preview and tips here!
Remember, for full race-by-race previews of Flemington, Canterbury and Pinjarra, head to our horse racing website at racingbet.com.au!
Horse Racing Tips: New Year's Day 2021
Flemington Race 2
This 2000 metres bm70 has a few quality runners going around. At the top of the market is (12) Feuermond who is going for 3 straight wins. His last two wins were in Maiden and bm64 grade so he is making another big step up. Both races he won by over 3 and 2 lengths respectively, so he is going to be tough to beat once again. The issue for me is coming against tougher opposition, best work was on Soft, and getting a bad gate. Coupled with the low odds, it makes me a touch nervous. He does look like the progressive horse in the field but I want to be getting over $4.50. Happy to have him as a saver.
(7) Laundy has been racing consistently in bm64 grade (with 1 win and 3 seconds in the past 4 runs). Takes that little step up again here and faces some tougher opposition. Nash Rawiller stays in the saddle, and based on his last performance (winning by 2.5 lengths) we can expect another keen showing. (3) Playoffs on the other hand stays in this grade after a second place over 2000 metres to Astraeus, which was after a win in bm64 grade. He is building a nice resume and will be fine in these conditions. He has Will Price on board which has a valuable claim of 3kgs. The gate is a query. At the price of $11.00 he looks a chance.
(1) Humble Pie is another one that gets a bad gate (gate 18) but is dropping back in class after a reasonable run behind Zachaz over this distance. Prior he won at the Valley and is another knock-out hope at solid each-way odds. Not sure I like the jockey booking but it comes with a claim.
Also backing: (12) Feuermond $3.25
Pinjarra Race 2
(3) Warm ‘n’ Fuzzy was a complete disappointment last start but we can expect a sharp improvement. He drops back slightly in grade here which will be obviously to his favour, and if we wipe out that last start, he looks the one to beat in a pretty ordinary field. There looks to be a few runners who’ll compete for the lead, so Parnham may need to drop into the one-out one-back, which may be just perfect. Look for him to get the trail into the final few hundred metres and then drift out to capitalise.
Flemington Race 5
(1) Riding The Wave was a solid second behind Defiant Dancer last start—they brained the rest. While Defiant Dancer steps up in grade (and we’ll know by now how he went), Riding The Wave drops down in grade and takes on easier company. He gets the claim of Will Price that offsets the weight increase, and stays at the 1200 metres. He looks extremely well placed her with the middle-draw. I won’t be playing around him here, just taking him as the Best Bet on the program.
(1) Riding The Wave
$3.50
Canterbury Race 6
This race may depend on track pattern. (11) Discharged will jump from the wide gate and come across the field and attempt to lead them around. If he gets the easy sectionals he is going to be mighty tough to get past. He has some quality first up results, has the Waterhouse shine, and has won 2 from 2 at this track and distance. His overall record is building nicely at 5 wins from 13 starts, all coming on Good tracks. And this is the rub – the Soft 7 may prove the problem. He will need to have fitness and handle the going if he is going to hold them out. If the track was Good – he would be a clear top pick for me.
Conversely, (5) Hightail is going to drop back from the sticky gate and attempt to come around many of them. Christian Reith will need to look for the better ground, but will need to save energy in the run. He also has a solid first-up record, previously wining a Group 3 race. One thing we do know is that he is likely to handle the Soft track with one win on Heavy going. The Snowden stable will have him ready to fire. So I am pretty keen to play both sides of the coin here.
(7) Eleven Eleven could easily turn up again and ruin this party.
Also backing: (11) Discharged $5.00
Mornington Race 7
The final race on the card is a pretty ordinary bm58 – but the consistent and unlucky (6) Gutsy looks to have every opportunity to go on with it. 11 starts for 1 win, but 8 places, he has proven costly. Laura Lafferty gets into the saddle and gets a claim. He has race fitness over a few of these, which is going to be required. The first-up form of (7) Brazen Princess brings her into contention.
