Raceday focus: Best bets, analysis for the Sandown Hillside program

Punters can strike hard early in the twilight fixture while jockey Craig Williams is the rider to follow with his book of seven rides at the Sandown Hillside meeting.

Craig Williams has seven rides to be the jockey to follow at Wednesday’s Sandown Hillside meeting.

Herald Sun form analyst Brad Waters runs the rule over the Sandown Hillside card on Wednesday.

BEST BET

DRAGON TIME (Race 1 No. 2 – $2.10)

A slow beginning probably cost Dragon Time his maiden win at Sandown last time but he’ll be primed for the step to 1600m on Wednesday. He’ll be strong on the line and can give punters the perfect start to the day.

NEXT BEST

MODEAR (Race 4 No. 7 – $6)

Only had two starts in winter but wasn’t disgraced in much harder company first-up. She is a first-up winner and went well in a jumpout leading up to this. Watch for her to be charging late.

LITTLE MERMAID (Race 6, No. 5 – $4.60)

Another Patrick Payne-trained runner but she should perform strongly first-up at Sandown. Little Mermaid was a comfortable winner on debut in February and ran competitive races in harder contests last time in.

Trainer Patrick Payne has two good chances to notch a win on Wednesday.

WARRIOR WOMAN (Race 7 No. 8 – $11)

Warrior Woman is racing consistently and might be suited back at 1800m at Sandown. She led throughout to score at Mornington two runs back and will get every chance from barrier over this shorter trip.

VALUE BET

SURFACING (Race 5 No. 4 – $13)

It was hard not to be impressed with the way Surfacing overcame difficulty to score on debut. She was held up a couple of times before showing a smart turn of foot to win easily in the end. She’ll only improve with racing and she’s a smart filly.

THE JOCKEY

CRAIG WILLIAMS

Craig Williams has a book of seven rides at Sandown on Wednesday and the markets suggest the champion jockey will be around the mark, especially early in the twilight meeting.

YULONG PREMIER (Race 1 No. 3, $3.70), AIN’T SHE CUTE (Race 2 No. 8, $8), VANDOULA LASS (Race 3 No. 7, $2.20), MR BROWN FOX (Race 4, No. 9 $17), SURFACING (Race 5, No. 4 $13), ANCHORMAN (Race 7, No. 9 $12), LARRIKIN (Race 8, No. 7 $15).

THE WEEK AHEAD

Echuca also races on Wednesday but there’s only one meeting on Thursday with Kyneton to hold that fixture. A day meeting at Mornington precedes eight races at The Valley on Friday evening. The Pakenham Cup is the feature of Saturday’s Pakenham meeting while Stawell will be the scene of the country fixture. Balnarring will also hold a picnic card on Saturday.