Sydney Preview: Rosehill Spot Plays Dec. 2-3
Racing in Sydney (Photo courtesy of Sky Racing World)
December 1st, 2022
It’s a relatively quiet weekend of racing in New South Wales, with horses having a breather before the big prizes resume next weekend.
Field sizes remain strong, however, and with TwinSpires having its Rest of the World Bet Back offer available on all races from Rosehill on Friday night, ET, there are plenty of good betting opportunities.
The card is highlighted by two Rating 88 events and a Rating 78 contest. Let’s have a look at some potential plays.
Race 7, 12:00 a.m. Saturday ET: Ranvet Handicap, 1,200 meters (about 6 furlongs), Rating 78, 3-year-olds and up
A very even-looking 11-horse field faces the starter here. A number of the entrants are exiting a closely-contested Rating 78 event at Kembla Grange, most notably #9 Broken Arrows and #1 Rainbow Connection, just beaten into second and third, respectively, that day. Rainbow Connection may be the slightly better prospect given he’s drawn barrier four.
The wiser bets may be a couple of others that didn’t contest that race. #10 Starboreta is in career-best form, having won three of her last four, and rallied strongly to win at Kembla Grange Nov. 19. The firm tracks are helping her, and she gets the services of the very capable Tim Clark in the saddle.
My other preference is for #2 American President. He put three wins together at the end of last season, and wasn’t far away when ninth in The Warra, a A$300,000 event at Kembla Grange the same day Starboreta won. That was a much stronger class, and he gets a 1.5kg (about three pounds) apprentice allowance from Tyler Schiller. His biggest problem will be negotiating his way around from barrier 11.
Race 8, 12:40 a.m. Saturday ET: Furphy Handicap, 1,400 meters (about 7 furlongs), Rating 88, 3-year-olds and up
It’s officially a Rating 88 event, but there are some horses of black type class in this field, among them #1 Brutality, fifth in The Gong last start, the resuming Group 3 winner #2 Ashman, and the former New Zealand Group 3 winner #4 Super Strike. The latter ran very nicely for eighth on his return to racing last month and should be improved.
Down in the weights there are two very solid prospects. #12 Cavalier Charles has been running in rich events for country-trained horses, notably finishing fourth in the A$2 million Kosciuszko in October. Also at a lighter weight is the Chris Waller-trained #10 Sur La Mer; she put in a couple of nice races at black type level in September before running well for third in the Bracelet at Flemington on Oaks day.
With a fairly favorable barrier of eight, I’m sticking with Sur La Mer, but it’s worth spreading your options wide with exotics.
- $10 win/$30 show: #10 Sur La Mer
- $1 trifecta: 4, 10 with 1, 4, 10, 12 with 1, 2, 4, 10, 12
Race 9, 1:20 a.m. Saturday ET: Kia Ora Prague Handicap, 1,100 meters (about 5 1/2 furlongs), Rating 88, 3-year-olds and up
Some good types line up here, but much of the money is likely to be on #10 I Am Me. From the Ciaron Maher-David Eustace stable, I Am Me has won four of her last six starts, and at her first run this season was mighty impressive in a Rating 78 event Nov. 5. She has a sparkling turn of foot and looks very hard to beat from her position down in the weights.
#3 Key Largo put up a great effort to finish second in The Warra Nov. 19; this isn’t as strong, but he is further up the weights. Fourth that day was #6 On The Lead, who should also be in the mix here. Keep an eye also on the imported #8 Munitions, who ran his best race for some time when second at Randwick Nov. 1, the consistent #7 The Bopper, and former New Zealander #9 Super Pursuit.
- $20 win: #10 I Am Me
- $1 trifecta: 10 with 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 with 3, 6, 7, 8, 9
Bonus Play – New Zealand
Race 8, Trentham, 10:29 p.m. ET: Captain Cook Stakes (G1), 1,600 meters (about one mile), 3-year-olds and up
Usually a competitive race, this Group 1 mile is an interesting poser given the likelihood of a sodden track. The class horse of the field is #1 Aegon, back in New Zealand after winning the Moonga (G3) and finishing fourth in the Cantala (G1) in Melbourne; if he’s in that form he should win. He handles soft going, but this going may be wetter than that, and he could be a risk at short odds.
#3 Prise De Fer usually runs boldly and got a well-deserved victory in the Eagle Technology (G3) last weekend, but there will be some doubts if it’s very wet. Therefore, I’m going to have a go on the proven wet tracker #5 Deerfield. His last start was a little disappointing, but he had a lot of weight to carry and he’s back at weight-for-age here. He may be at decent odds.
- $10 win/$30 show: #5 Deerfield
ADVERTISEMENT
