3 minute read

You won't find a more nondescript meeting at Flemington then the one we face on Saturday but that's just fine. Sometimes a bit of run-of-the-mill is just what the doctor ordered.

Promising horses may be few and far between but we've got deeper meetings on Boxing Day and New Years Day to look forward to and we do have nine competitive betting handicaps to get stuck into in the short term. 

And of course we can keep it interesting by tricking things up a bit, and what better way to make things tricky than by tipping the enigmatic backmarker Galaxy Raider as the best bet on the card. 

For all that Galaxy Raider has had a bit of a reputation at times, he has hit the three in 20 of his 40 starts and knocked in two good Flemington wins back in January and February. Since then he has raced exclusively in better company than he meets on Saturday and his late work at Pakenham last time said he was going as well as ever at the moment. 

That was his first go under Nash who may well be better for having had a spin round on him and will be keen to make a mark in his Christmas spell back in Victoria. Titan Blinders heads up the betting having won a quirky race on a quirky deck and it's not that far fetched to mark Galaxy Raider top pick, let alone a good gamble at around $5.50. 

For an each way play we roll into the last where Overkill and Sword Of Mercy rightly head the betting but one that catches our interest out wider is Queen Annabel at 33/1 and potentially better. 

She hasn't won one in 19 starts, and we deserve to be getting rewarded if we do manage to get her home, but she has been given a tick on more than one occasion this prep, including her strong closing effort in a fast race around the Valley last time. 

She's got some nice bits of form down the straight here and away from the top couple there really isn't a lot going on here. She can be backed each way and thrown into the all important Christmas Quaddies.  

THE MELBOURNE MAIL 

Bet Of The Day: Race 8 #4 Galaxy Raider @ $5.50

Each Way Play: Race 9 #12 Queen Annabel @ $34.00