Dick Powell's Australia Pick of the Week July 3

Race 3 at Hawkesbury (Australia A) on Wednesday night is a maiden for two-year-olds going five furlongs. The track is expected to be "Soft-7" so the ground should be on the soft side of good, but these inexperienced runners are questionable on who can handle it. FREE International Past Performances every day at Brisnet.com! #10 MISTRESS MOUSE was a good third against 11 runners in a maiden at Canterbury in her last pari-mutuel start back in January. She recently had two good barrier trials at Randwick and the last was a good one on soft turf. She is sired by super sire I Am Invincible, who has had 22 juvenile winners this season and now stands for an incredible stud fee of A$247,500 – after starting out around A$10,000 - and has been picked to be Winx's first mate. Gai Waterhouse is great with her youngsters, and the fact that she has won two barrier trials on similar ground is in her favor. #2 COVERT OPS is a son of I Am Invincible and has been racing well against some salty maidens at Randwick and Kensington. The last was a good third against open two-year-olds going five furlongs on heavy ground when he lost all chance at the start. He gets major class relief today against these, but his starting gate issues could deny him again going this short. Based on speed ratings, he lays over this group but will wait for him to go longer. #3 MORETHANNUMBERONE didn't show much in a barrier trial to begin his career but he came back at Rosehill over heavy ground and rallied for fifth going 5 1/2 furlongs in good time. With the expected improvement in his second time out, he could be a late factor for Team Hawkes (15 for their last 50). Son of More than Ready is out of a dam by Galileo that is a half-sister to a Group 3 winner down in Australia. MISTRESS MOUSE can pull of the mild upset if her chief rival dwells in the starting gate again. Don’t forget Twin Spires’ Australian Racing Bet Back offer where you may receive $5 win bet back on Australian A tracks Monday through Thursday if you opt in and play at least four races on a single day using the new TwinSpires platform. If you finish second, you get up to $5 back per race with a maximum of $50 maximum bonus per player each week.