Well here it is. Golden Slipper Day has finally arrived and not without it’s fair share of drama in the lead up to it. It wouldn’t be a Slipper day without a wet track and it looks like we will be on an extremely heavy one today. There has even been talks of having to postpone the meeting which would be a massive blow. As it stands however, it is business as usual and there are plenty of winners to be found across a massive day which includes five Group 1 races!
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Horse Racing Tips Saturday 20th March
Rosehill Race 1
We kick proceedings off with the Darby Munro Stakes for 3 year olds and it is a high quality field this year. Thinking (2) Doubtland looks a great bet here in a race which looks very open. Had too much to do first up in the Fireball Stakes but now gets his favoured wet track and is probably the best horse in this race with give in the ground. Won the Danehill Stakes when 2nd up last time in over 1200m and gets a similar setup here today. Any run close to that performance will see him extremely hard to hold out. Jmac jumps aboard and has drawn well in gate 3 which will leave plenty of options after the jump. Think the $5 on offer is a cracking price and would not surprise me to see him jump favourite.
Rosehill Race 6
We move onto the G1 George Ryder Stakes over 1500m and I am keen to back another wet track specialist. (2) Avilius put the writing on the wall last start and looks a massive chance to finally break through for his first win in 14 races. Went absolutely enormous fresh behind Verry Elleegant in the Chipping Norton where he loomed up like the winner at the 200m mark. That run is too hard to ignore and he looks to have come back in great order. Now gets onto an absolute bog track and I personally think he is a few lengths better on a track like this. Many of his key rivals here are questionable at best in the wet going and if any horse is going to benefit from today’s conditions, Avilius will be the one. 2nd up record reads 6:3-1-0 and while the drop back in distance might be a slight query, he looks ready to peak here. That 0.2L off the best horse in the country last start will win this race easily. (11) Funstar is the danger down in the weights and is one of the few who can also get through the ground. Pretty certain the winner comes from these two but am keen to stick with the Godolphin veteran. Quinella as the saver.
Mornington Race 7
The highlight of the day at Mornington sees a strong field go head to head in the Mornington Cup. Think there is an out and out winning hope in this race and am very keen on it’s chances. (7) Mount Popa looks a very exciting staying prospect who has come back in top shape. Won with something in hand last start over Sacramento, who had been flying up in Sydney before that and was only narrowly beaten first up by Shared Ambition. Looks to be on an upward trend and is extremely well placed in a race like this today. Steps up to 2400m here where his record is outstanding having not missed the placings in five starts and winning twice. Will probably be ready to peak third up, gets Pikey on board from the gun draw in barrier 4 and should enoy a lovely run throughout. Keen.
Rosehill Race 7 - Golden Slipper
Well here it is. One of the biggest races on the Australian racing calendar is finally here. The 2021 Golden Slipper sees one of the most exciting fields we have seen for a while with many winning chances spread throughout. There are plenty of different formlines to follow and look into but personally I think the Todman Stakes is probably the race to pay most attention to. Both (8) Stay Inside and (2) Profiteer come out of that race where they both ran extremely well considering how it panned out and they dominate the top of the market. I’ve always had an opinion of Stay Inside and he lost no admirers in that race where he just had no luck and didn’t see daylight until the final 200m. Think he will have come on from that run and he has shown he should get through the heavy track okay after winning by 4L on a soft 7 two starts ago. Profiteer is an obvious danger who somehow kept kicking to run 2nd in that Todman Stakes after overracing. He has the speed from the gates and the low draw so expect him to be the one they will all need to get past. Slight query in the conditions but if he handles it he’ll be hard to hold out.
Thinking (11) O’President could be the one at double figure odds to surprise the favourites and is one of the few who has already performed well on a heavy track. Comes into this off back to back wins where he won by 4L on a heavy track at Canterbury before being too strong in the Skyline. Gets Glen Boss on board who knows how to pull out a big performance when it matters. (13) Four Moves Ahead is the other obvious danger who is also well performed in the wet but I just think he may not bring the right formlines. Have to definitely respect him though and has to go into all the exotics.
Value: (11) O'President $11.00
Mornington Race 8
The other highlight of the day at Mornington is the Hareeba Stakes with a high-quality field engaged. One of the Punters Pals in (1) Ancestry tops the market and I think the Stokes trained speedster is going to be too good again. Has been turned around quickly after taking out a Stakes race at Moonee Valley last Saturday and I’d say he clearly has pulled up extremely well for the stable to back him up here. Was pressured in a fast run Oakleigh Plate before making a mess of a much weaker field last Saturday. He’s just a horse you can confidently back because you know exactly what your going to get. He jumps, he goes forward, he leads, he cruises at a high speed, rails like a greyhound and just doesn’t get caught. From barrier 1 I can’t see any other result than him out in front and being too good again.
