Last Saturday, the Queensland Racing Carnival continued as Ipswich Cup Day took centre stage. Meanwhile, Rosehill hosted the Listed WJ McKell Cup and Belmont staged the Waroa-Belmont Guineas, with Flemington and Murray Bridge also hosting solid meetings. Read on to see who we’re following at their next starts.
Flemington – Country Raceday
Track rating: Good 4
Rail position: +11m entire circuit
Race 1: Benchmark 78 Handicap (1000m) | Time: 0:57.12
- Horse to follow: Boonie (2nd)
Ben & JD Hayes would have been very happy with the run of their most recent European import, Boonie, who finished second behind Rain Lord over 1000m down the Flemington straight. On his Aussie debut, this four-year-old gelding ended up finishing 14th of 16 in a Benchmark 90, so the Hayes boys chose to drop him back down in grade to a Benchmark 78 last Saturday – and it nearly worked, as he was beaten by a long neck after giving the winner 4.5kg.
When to bet: Boonie was given a month off between his first- and second-up runs, and with a Benchmark 78 over 1000m at Flemington set to be run on July 15, it appears to be the race that the Hayes team will target for this gelding.
Ipswich – Ipswich Cup Day
Track rating: Good 4
Rail position: +0.5m entire circuit
Race 1: 2YO Handicap (1200m) | Time: 1:11.17
- Horse to follow: Defiant Spirit (2nd)
The Stuart Kendrick-trained Defiant Spirit was a bit unlucky to not win the opener at Ipswich, as Ben Thompson was caught napping at the rear of the field when the leader kicked clear with 600m to go. This son of Spirit Of Boom was very impressive winning at the Sunshine Coast last start on debut, which led punters to back him into $3.10 favouritism with online bookmakers. Given that he was having his first look around Ipswich – which is much tighter than the other three metropolitan tracks in Queensland – we are going to give him a pass.
When to bet: Defiant Spirit showed he could run out a strong 1200m after proving way too good over 1000m on debut, so where Kendrick and his team choose to stretch him out to 1400m or stay at 1200m next start on a bigger track, we will be following him.
Rosehill – W J McKell Cup Day
Track rating: Good 4
Rail position: True entire circuit
Race 1: 2YO Handicap (1400m) | Time: 1:24.00
- Horse to follow: Gelatin (3rd)
Gelatin from the Michael Freedman stable had to be one of the unluckiest runners of the day at Rosehill. The two-year-old colt got into a bumping duel with the Mogwai and then had to switch back to the inside of a slowing horse. Once this son of Snitzel switched back to the inside, he pushed through a gap late to run into the placings. With the finishing burst he showed, it is clear that if he got to the outside and had more room, he would have finished a lot closer to the winner, Tutta La Vita.
When to bet: Gelatin was very strong through the line over 1400m at his second career start, indicating that he would run out a strong 1600m; however, we will still be following if he can find a race over 1400m or 1600m with a bigger field and enough pace on for him to run on from the back.
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