Harness Racing Tips: Menangle & Ballarat - Saturday January 19th

Trent Orwin is back this Saturday, the 19th of January with another round of Harness Racing tips! Today he takes a look at the race meets at Menangle and Ballarat and gives his best bets below!

Menangle Harness Tips

Race 6

Inter Dominion champion Tiger Tara did it easily last week as a $1.12 favourite and he is a short quote this week in the Group 3 Brian Hancock Cup (1609m). Maximan contested the Inter Dominion series also and made it through to the final before tiring out of it and finishing 70m away from Tiger Tara.

I can’t see him turning the tables any time soon but Maximan looks good place value at around the $2.90 mark. He draws barrier four (three if the emergency doesn’t gain a start) and should lob somewhere handy for driver Lachie Manzelmann. Other horses that will be fighting out the placings are Little Rascal, Egodan, Bettermatch and Rakarolla.

Ballarat Harness Tips

Race 5

The Group 2 E B Cochran Trotters Cup (2200m) should be a terrific contest between two very good trotters – Save Our Pennys finished fifth in the Inter Dominion Trotting Final and second in the Maori Mile. Dance Craze was also in the Maori Mile and she ran sixth.

With barrier draw advantage in this event, Save Our Pennys is my top pick and the seven-year-old Graeme Lang-trained gelding will prove hard to beat. He will appreciate not bumping into trotting beast Tornado Valley after three consecutive seconds in Inter Dominion Heats last month. If he can find the front, they won’t be catching him but he showed he can do it tough from the death seat also.

Race 7

The main event for Ballarat’s meeting will be the Group 1 Ballarat Pacing Cup (2710m) and there is a high probability that Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen walk away with the winner. They have Thefixer and Cruz Bromac in the race and barriers three and six look pretty good on paper. Cruz Bromac gets the nod here because he is a better price than his stablemate and very little separates them on ability. Cruz Bromac does also have very good gate speed when asked to show it so that versatility could help him. Whichever All Stars runner gets the better run during the Cup will probably triumph.

There is competition in the race with Buster Brady stepping up in grade since arriving in Australia. He cannot be dismissed while Our Uncle Sam and to a lesser degree, Our Triple Play and Cant Refuse are capable of finishing in the placings – Our Uncle Sam is a winning chance though.

Race 8

The third heat of the Victoria Derby looks competitive and I have been impressed by recent wins from Max Delight. Trained and driven by David Aiken, Max Delight ripped home in a 53.2 last half at Shepparton two starts ago to defeat Lochinvar Art. That is an excellent formline for this heat and he may be benefitted by the fact that Supreme Dominator has drawn barrier one. New Zealand horses aren’t afraid to hand up, especially in a situation like this where it is a heat, so Aiken will likely test Mark Purdon early.

Nostra Ideal, Soho Thunderstruck and Fourbigmen are each-way chances in the race but I don’t think they will catch Max Delight if he is able to dictate out in front. There is no better place than leading in heats and hopefully that’s where we are in the run.