The race for the first country cup title in 2022 begins this Friday night with six heats of the Group 2 SEN Track Warragul Cup and form expert The Watchdog fancies the chances of TAB’s ‘All In’ favourite Typhoon Sammy.
Third in the Group 2 Bendigo Cup final in October, the Jason Thompson-trained Typhoon Sammy heads the ‘All In’ market at $6.
Kennelmate Aussie Secret, winner of the Group 1 Hobart Thousand final last month, shares the second line of betting at $8 with Group 1 Melbourne Cup runner-up Lala Kiwi, Paddy Wants Pats and inaugural TAB Phoenix heroine Wow She’s Fast.
Click HERE for TAB’s ‘All In’ Warragul Cup market
Typhoon Sammy and Aussie Secret duelled in a 400m ‘pipe opener’ at Warragul last Sunday night, where Typhoon Sammy was victorious in a near-record 22.10sec, convincing The Watchdog the Bendigo 425m record holder is back to his brilliant best.
Drawn in Box 6 in the second heat, Typhoon Sammy is $2 favourite, with The Watchdog predicting he can go all-the-way.
The Watchdog’s $50 spend
$30 on Typhoon Sammy to win at $6
$20 on Titan Blazer to win at $31
“He’s my early tip for this series,” said The Watchdog.
“I know since his Bendigo Cup heat win he hasn’t replicated the same form – he won a Melbourne Cup heat, but even then he wasn’t as dynamic as we’ve seen – until last week at Warragul where he gave the track record a nudge over 400m.
“I think he’s an amazing talent, we’ve seen he’s back to his best and this distance range will probably suit him. I think he’ll lead, he might get a bit tired, but he’ll have enough in the tank to qualify and he’ll be better for the final next week.”
The Watchdog has identified great value in his second ‘All In’ recommendation, saying the $31 on offer about last start Group 1 Silver Chief placegetter Titan Blazer, trained by Daniel Gibbons, is “huge”.
While Titan Blazer will clash will series heavyweights Aussie Secret and Paddy Wants Pats in heat five, The Watchdog believes Box 8 could play into the rising star’s hands.
“He will stay wide early, he’s got that really good turn of speed after about 50m, and if they all bunch underneath he’ll be able to zoom past them in the run to the first turn. He’s going to take a power of beating and I think the $31 is huge.”
Other contenders to peak The Watchdog’s ‘All In’ interest are Hebridean Black (Heat 1 – $31), Brother Bearing (Heat 3 – $18), Fernando Mick (Heat 3 – $31) and Lala Kiwi (Heat 4 – $8).
WATCH: TYPHOON SAMMY (1) blew his rivals away when setting the Bendigo 425m track record of 23.281sec in a heat of the Group 2 Bendigo Cup on October 9. Results
