3 minute read

We're back to the Valley following it's post-summer break with a deep card full of horses building towards the Winter Championships.

Our idea of the best race on the card is the eighth over 2040m where a couple have enough promise to gaze beyond the Winter Championships. Harbour Views and Django Freeman are out to enhance their spring credentials and both have the right profile to make their mark in better races than this. 

On Saturday is Harbour Views who appeals most getting out over a trip we've been waiting to see him over from day one. While he has plenty of pace for the mile, as his good record at the trip shows, he's always shaped as though his absolute best would come at or around 2000m and he set himself a lovely platform for the race in Adelaide last time where he closed nicely in a race that was dominated on speed. 

He draws to settle in front of plenty of tired legs on Saturday and his fresh pistons should give them all plenty to catch en route to bigger and better. Django deserves a quick mention. He ran really well fresh off an injury-enforced break, and looks like making his mark in Australia in time, but it would be no shock to see him run an even race here before really improving in the spring. We're betting on it...

For an each way play we roll back to the fourth which shapes as a lead up to the Sprint Final on Winter Championships Day. 

Great Again won well in the Straight Six, and seems well treated on the back of that, but Spirit Of Aquada looms as a terrific each way chance after a big Flemington run over 1100m where he shaped as well as ever. 

He's hardly been a proflic winner but two of his three wins have come around here and he won't have to do much more than what he did last time to give these plenty to worry about.  

THE MELBOURNE MAIL 

Bet Of The Day: Race 8 #9 Harbour Views @ $3.00

Each Way Play: Race 4 #8 Spirit Of Aquada @ $7.50