3 minute read

The best through a winter meeting on a heavy track at Randwick looks to be saved until last.

Currently a Heavy 9, emphasis must be placed on those who are proven on the rain affected ground even with the expectation of fine weather the next 24 hours potentially allowing for an upgrade.

Unbeaten through two runs on Soft 7 tracks is the James Cummings-trained Bandipur who contests the Benchmark 81 Australia Sprint (1000m) which rounds out proceedings.

Bandipur kicks off his prep after some great runs earlier this season.

The Commands colt won the Lightning Stakes at Morphettville and then won an Open 3YO Handicap at Caulfield during the spring.

He resumes here off a pair of trials, winning the latest on a Heavy track at this course.

Cummings elected to scratch Bandipur from Flemington to run here and it should prove to be a winning move. He resumes in a race which looks thin on depth.

There are two stakes performed horses (She Knows the other) against a bunch of your standard off season winter types.

The class edge these two have will show at the finish.

The lean is toward Bandipur though for a couple of reasons. Firstly, he ran figures last prep which have him rating a couple lengths clear of his nearest rivals, secondly, the speed map.

The three-year-old has barrier 13 and there is a lot of pace drawn inside him, Noble Joey, Niccolance, All Carisma and Don’t Tease Me will all be injecting speed which should allow Bandipur to find cover off the pace.

By the end of the day on a heavy track, you’ll want to be wide out in the straight and you’d think Angland will have Bandipur fanning out to the right part of the track.

It’s unusual for a meeting conducted on a heavy track to be short on genuine value plays however it looks the case on Saturday.

Instead of looking for value with only minimal confidence we can attempt to bookend the program courtesy of Dio D’Oro who contests the Living Turf 2YO Handicap (1200m).

It looks a case of the Gary Portelli-trained colt coming of age this prep as he lines up here off a 1000m success at the course.

It was a strong win, where the colt travelled wide with no cover throughout. His final furlong was quite impressive.

There always been a bit of a boom on the Medaglia D’Oro juvenile and he could be ready to deliver on it.

He’ll be fitter second up and is drawn to get a kinder run from barrier 4. Rachel King could potentially settle one out and one back behind leader Marmaris drawn 2 and Knight Arrow from wider out.

You can also take added comfort heading into this race that Dio D’Oro is proven on a Heavy track. That first up win came on a Heavy 9 which is what Randwick’s currently rated.

We lose a bit of his price with Irish Bet being scratched for the second week running however the current $4.20 quote is still appealing enough.

Sydney Specials: Randwick – June 23

Best Of The Day 1: R9; #1 Bandipur @ $4.00