| What | Ballina races |
| Where | Ballina Racecourse, Racecourse Rd, Ballina NSW 2478 |
| When | Friday, January 15, 2021 |
| First Race | 14:20pm AEDT |
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Streaming Live at Sportsbet |
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Eight races are set to go around at Ballina on Friday afternoon. The track is currently a Soft 5, and the rail is in the true position. Race 1 is set to face the starter at 2:20pm.
Best Bet – Race 1 #9 Koonunga Hill
Kacy Fogden and Mark Du Plessis combine in the opener with six-start maiden, Koonunga Hill. The son of Exceed And Excel has placed in five of six career starts, with all runs coming at Ipswich or the Sunshine Coast, which is typically much harder opposition than Ballina. He’s now had seven weeks between runs so he should be fresh enough to have a sharp turn of foot late. This is his race to lose.
Next Best – Race 4 #5 Azzareach
This will be a cracking race here between Azzareach and Parksville, but we are siding with the former due to his better gate and 1kg weight relief on the impressive last-start winner. Danny Bougoure’s three-year-old Outreach colt blew them away on debut at the Gold Coast, before finishing 6L off Mishani Miss in a three-year-old handicap in August. He had five months off the scene and resumed with a nice trial win and then ran second to the talented Bleu Zebra at Doomben last time out. On that occasion, he put nearly 3L on the third horse which suggests he will be worth following. Barrier 9 under Georgie Cartwright will see him push forward and land in the box seat and he should prove very hard to beat.
Ballina Cup Tip – Race 7 #4 Penshurst
The feature race of the day on Friday is the Ballina Cup over 1590m, and we are confident that Penshurst can get the job done for Matt Dunn and Luke Dittman. The son of Fastnet Rock won the Ballina Cup Prelude three weeks ago in good fashion, and we believe he will get all the favours here again. Drawn gate 9, he’ll settle midfield under Dittman who rode him to victory last time out. He drops 1kg off his last start win, which will make the world of difference here. He represents good value at $5.50 (with AU betting sites) and should prove hard to beat again.
Ballina quaddie selections for Ballina Cup day – 15/1/2021
| QLD Quadrella Selections | |
|---|---|
| R5: | 1-2-6-9 |
| R6: | 2-3 |
| R7: | 3-8-9-10 |
| R8: | 3-11-12-14 |
| Investment | $160 for 100% |
