3 minute read
It's off season fare at Caulfield this weekend but there are enough interesting horses lining up to make for an enjoyable card.
No horse is more interesting than the one right off the top. Race one number one is National Choice who reeled off some slick closing splits to win a decent looking race in fine style at Geelong and could develop into a very smart one based on that.
The early betting seems fairly well aware of this, however, and we will look for something a little less 'screwed down' for our bet of the day.
A candidate arrives in the sixth on the card, an open mile where So Si Bon heads the betting looking to follow up on his last start win.
So Si has been a favourite of the Mail, but this looks the time to turn our backs on him with the fresher legs of Hang Man appealing as a good bet at slighty bigger odds.
Hang Man has run through the line impressively at both starts this time in and now gets blinkers on third up for a yard that have been right among the winners of late. Timing anyone! Despite success over longer trips he has the pace for the mile and there's every chance that he lands in the first few in-running without a great deal of speed engaged.
Import Southern Rock has pace and is certainly an interesting runner. It is worth keeping an ear to the ground and an eye on the betting around him but it would certainly come as no surprise if he is out for a quiet introduction to Australian racing and that would suit backers of Hang Man just fine.
For an each way play we go back a race to the fifth, a 1200m handicap for off season fillies. It's Kinda Magic comes up favourite, and that is fair enough, but away from her it's very even and 14/1 about Talented seems too big.
She lost her action two back, and disappointed in a winnable race, but she won nicely first up in a race not dissimilar to what she tackles on Saturday and last time at Bendigo she closed really well behind the well regarded Lunakorn.
Those efforts, and their accompanying ratings, make her about as good as any of these away from the favourite and the betting seems to undersell her a bit given that.
THE MELBOURNE MAIL
Bet Of The Day: Race 6 #8 Hang Man @ $3.80
Each Way Play: Race 5 #11 Talented @ $15.00
