SuperCoach Racing key tips and tactics to success
The opening Round of SuperCoach Racing is closing in, and with a new game comes new tricks to help dominate rivals. Here’s the key tactics to help get you off to a fast start in the first week.
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It’s the inaugural season of SuperCoach stable, so punters are all in the same situation, we’re basically backing a two-year-old maiden race at Birdsville with rain pouring down.
SuperCoaches will be making vital selections from an even playing field without prior years of knowledge giving competitors an edge.
With odds fluctuating, tipsters going against each other and scratchings causing chaos, we take a look at the key tactics to ensure you’re a front-runner from Round 1, while also providing a demo team for the opening week.
Keep in mind the stable is a demo picked prior to the final fields for Round One being confirmed.
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STACK THE ODDS
It should go without saying, but unless you’re an absolute expert race analyst, then the market is the best guide to selecting your stable each week. This doesn’t mean getting stuck in the trap of mindlessly selecting the favourite from each race. It’s important to compare the race day odds of a runner and its SuperCoach price in order to seek out value. If a runner costing$100k is high up in the market they’ll generally be an astute selection, while a 20-1 shot worth $400k is probably one to avoid. Likewise, if there are two horses priced significantly apart but are at equal odds, it’s worth saving the coin on the cheaper horse if you’re splitting hairs over the two.
JOCKEY PICKS
It’s essential to select a jockey with a big book of rides on the day. Keep in mind jockeys are only awarded points for finishing first, second or third in Group 1 to Listed level races when making your selection, points don’t alter with the class as they do for the horses. If a jockey has a hotshot favourite, but only has two other unfancied rides on the day, it’s worth looking beyond the easy three points on offer.
CAPTAIN
Selecting a captain is crucial as double points are awarded for that given horse. The tempting move is to automatically select a favoured horse in the day’s Group 1, however it shouldn’t be overlooked to play it safe and captain a raging hot horse in a lower level of race to solidify the double points. However, if there is an odds on pop in a major race it’s not worth getting too tricky with your selection, just bank the likely extra points.
STOCK UP ON YOUNG GUNS
Horses are primarily priced based on handicap ratings, with a few adjustments across the board to avoid any serious outliers. Two and three-year-olds have lower ratings due to having had fewer career runs, meaning they’re cheaper. While a weight-for-age Group 1 could have 10 horses priced over $450k, a three-year-old equivalent could have 10 runners priced under $200k. Logic suggests we should be loading up on the youngsters to save funds for the rest of the stable. These horses will also be likely to earn greater price rises giving your stable greater value going forward.
Round 2 has the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes and Group 1 Flight Stakes. The top three in the four-year-old and over Turnbull Stakes market are Mystic Journey ($500k), Yucatan ($400k) and Avilius ($500k), while top three favourites from the three-year-old Flight Stakes are Libertini ($275k), Funstar ($175k) and Flit ($150k). Both races score the equivalent amount of points.
PLAY SMART, THINK SMALL
It’s not rocket science, but take a good hard look at the size of the fields and the class of the race. Higher class equates to greater points on offer. If there’s a group level race with only a handful of runners then it becomes a strong race to target. The perfect example in past years would be Winx running in a Group 1 against four rivals. If there’s a high stakes race with 20 runners then it’s probably best avoiding it all together. Remember, points are awarded on the level of race (Group 1 – Listed), so a Melbourne Cup winner would be worth the same amount of points as the Underwood Stakes winner.
WEATHER WATCH
Keep an eye on the weather forecast before you lock in your horses. If there’s wet weather that will likely see a track downgrade, play it safe and avoid runners that are a high chance of being scratched on the day.
PRE-SEASON PERKS
Fortunately the prices of horses won’t change before week one of SuperCoach begins. This gives us a free look at any horses with runs prior to the opening SuperCoach Racing week. If horses win or run well between now and week one we can pick them up at a discounted rate. E.g. Dalasan triumphed in the Group 2 Danehill Stakes at Flemington on Saturday but won’t see a price rise.
WEEK ONE STABLE PREVIEW
HOMESMAN ($400,000)
The talented American import recently stormed to a two-and-a-half length romp in the Group 2 Feehan Stakes in his first run since finishing runner-up in last year’s Caulfield Cup.
As a result, the Liam Howley trained gelding starts on the second line of betting for the Group 1 Underwood Stakes and is worth the hefty $400k price tag.
ENTICING STAR ($350,000)
The Group 2 Golden Pendant will be run in the opening round and gun WA mare Enticing Star could be on show as she works towards the Everest. Well-priced at $350,000 as a winner of eight from 10 starts in the west, and also undefeated (3/3) first up, she will be a huge chance in the race that would likely kick off her spring campaign.
TE AKAU SHARK ($350,000)
The lightly raced Kiwi star boasts five wins and two seconds from eight starts and holds Epsom Handicap favouritism. First up in Australia the five-year-old ran an admirable second on a track that had a severe case of leader’s bias. He’ll be a live chance in the Underwood Stakes and with zero Group 1s to his name is $150k cheaper than most of his fancied rivals.
EXCEEDANCE ($225,000)
The star three-year-old stunned highly regarded rivals - including Bivouac and Anaheed - in just the third start of his career early in the spring. As a result the Hawkes trained colt is firm favourite for the Group 1 Golden Rose and is therefore a steal at $225,000. My jockey Tommy Berry will also be on board so it’d be a big points haul if he wins the rich race.
DALASAN ($175,000)
Three-year-old South Australian colt Dalasan has already extended his impressive career record this campaign with two victories, the latest in the Group 2 Danehill Stakes at Flemington on Saturday. The Golden Rose prospect won’t be given a price rise after his latest win making him an undervalued runner.
FLIT ($150,000)
The Godolphin filly ran a huge race behind superstar Libertini first up in the Silver Shadow Stakes. At $150,000 in a dominant stable for three-year-olds in recent times she looks a serious chance and could sneak under the radar of many rivals in either the Golden Rose or Caulfield Guineas Prelude on the same day depending on the direction connections opt to take.
KUBRICK ($150,000)
The Chris Waller trained colt finished a nose second in the Group 1 JJ Atkins at Eagle Farm in the Queensland’s winter carnival. He was unbeaten from two starts prior to that and is fourth on the line of betting for the Golden Rose.
SPEND ($75,000)
Another Hawkes colt who is unbeaten from one start in the autumn on a heavy track. He’s a real unknown at this point but could scrape into the Golden Rose at just $75,000 in SuperCoach making him a must-have should he secure a run. Spend would likely be my fourth and final Golden Rose runner as it’s important not to throw all your eggs in one basket, spread the love across the major races.
YAO DASH ($50,000)
Unbeaten in two wins at fairly weak class but brimming with potential, Yao Dash for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott is a largely untapped talent heading into the spring. At $50,000 he’s worth a throw at the stumps while allowing me to spend bigger elsewhere. It’s uncertain which race he’ll feature in but should be on course in the opening round.
NEBULA ($50,000)
Basement priced at $50,000 with a chance at running in the opening round. Nebula frees up cash for my stars above and can hopefully run a cheeky race of his own.
JOCKEY: TOMMY BERRY
The Sydney hoop is a personal favourite of mine and is locked into the ride of Golden Rose favourite Exceedance. I’ll assess the book of rides closer to the date, but the jockey of the Group 1 favourite is a fair starting point if he can secure strong rides elsewhere.
Originally published as SuperCoach Racing key tips and tactics to success