RAILWAY STAKES (AND CRANBOURNE CUP) DAY
WA’s racing carnival ramped up as Perth got its moment in the sun (with sun being the appropriate word).
On a scorching day at Ascot the racing was equally as hot with the feature Railway Stakes going the way of Bustler after a late firm.
East Coast raiders took on the best of the west, and that was horses, jockeys and trainers alike.
A good undercard threw up plenty of surprises, with some favourites going down along the way.
It was a similar story at Cranbourne with only one fav getting up across the 10-race card.
The Cranbourne Cup went the way of the dominant Maher/Eustace team with Charterhouse saluting after a quality ride from Declan Bates.
Harness and Greyhound racing also took some focus through the evening with the heats for the Melbourne Cup and Bold Trease for the Dogs, and the running of the Breeders Crown series for the Trots.
We will wrap the good, the bad and the ugly from another cracker of a day of racing across the country.
BEST BACKED WINNERS
We had a fairly significant day of upsets, and a number of races where the second best backed runner got up.
For example Extremely Rowdy in Race 2 had solid support at Cranbourne behind the favourite.
Is It Me in Race 6 was another example of the second best backed runner winning it.
As was Zipaway (although well supported) in the WA Guineas.
His victory came with a late push and he was the third best backed horse in Perth for the day overall, with race fav Super Smink the best backed.
Zipaway (pictured) got the job done impressively.
Honorable mention goes to Jimmysstar in the last at Cranbourne who was heavily supported, and the only favourite to win all day in the City of Casey.
FIRMERS AND DRIFTERS
Shadows of Love at Kembla Grange produced a result we’ve seen more than once this spring.
The runner drifted sharply in the lead up to the race (from $2.62 out to $5.29) before winning anyway, and as a result throwing up a huge price advantage.
Kilcoy threw up a successful double, with the short priced favourite Tsunoda drifting from $1.43 out to $1.83 and losing, with the race winner Gavilan crunched from $6.80 into $2.90.
At Doomben we saw Comrade Rosa win after firming from $4.20 into $2.94.
At the same track Zarastro defied a sharp drift from $2.80 out to $4.30 by winning anyway.
Wakanjeja shortened in Race 9 at Morphettville from $3.30 into $2.20 before winning, whilst at Ascot we saw Onemoretwomany win in spite of a drift from $2.56 out to $3.75.
Saving this for last but Bustler’s (pictured) victory in the Railway came after a good late firm, moving from $13 to $10 in the last 7 minutes of trading.
Happy punters!
Bad Beats and In-play bolters
It started at the Valley on Friday night!
No Drama (pictured) opened at $9.40 meaning the market gave him a chance. But he didn’t live up to his name when he found trouble and peaked at $200 in the run before winning!
That wasn’t all though…
Sudden Suspect at the Gold Coast jumped at a hefty BSP of $55.44, but was soon in trouble and was matched for a time at a staggering $910!
He had additional matched volumes north of $100 in the run.
A couple of bad beats came in the same race at Morphettville when Celsius Star ($1.17), Bellinger ($1.40), Ocean Reward ($1.61) all hit favouritism in the run before losing to Vindicated.
Super Smink deserves a mention here as well, after jumping at $1.80 in the WA Guineas and losing.
PRICE ADVANTAGE
We mentioned Shadows of Love (pictured) earlier, who drifted sharply before winning.
That drift meant the victory came with a 46.7% price advantage on the Best Tote.
Foujita San threw up one even better at Cranbourne though!
His victory in Race 7 was with a BSP of $29.23 which was 52.2% higher than Best Tote.
Or roughly $103 for a $10 outlay.
Revolutionary Miss caused the big upset over Kizou in Race 3 and that was 31.6% better on the Exchange as well.
Haaracaine was a whopping 36.6% better in the next with the $9.29 BSP.
Pink Beau Ty (20.9%), Is It Me (14%), Taunting (13.8%), Charterhouse (17.7%) and Jimmysstar (11.3%) were all great results.
In fact all 10 Cranbourne winners were more than 10% better on the Exchange.
Onemoretwomany drifted and won at Ascot in Race 3 which meant a 30.6% edge as well.
Walk Like An Angel was 26.7% better at Morphettville too, with Punchin 24.4% superior at the same meeting.
