Shayne O’Cass’s extended preview and tips for Gosford’s stand-alone meeting
Daily Telegraph form analyst Shayne O’Cass examines every race for the Gosford stand-alone meeting on Saturday to point you in the right direction to finding a winner.
Daily Telegraph form analyst Shayne O’Cass runs the rule over every race, including suggested bets, for Gosford on Saturday.
The Form: Complete NSW Racing thoroughbred form, including video replays and all you need to know about every horse, jockey and trainer. Find a winner here.
GOSFORD
Track: Soft 5. Rail: True.
RACE 1
Namesake is by Maurice but if I didn’t know it to be impossible, I’d swear he was a son of Rory’s Jester. Wait until you see him. This $100,000 Inglis Classic Yearling was $15 into $11 on debut when he won, and won well. Gosford is going to suit him surely. Matusalem was every bit as good as Namesake when a close runner-up and gave the impression that out of the two, he might have the most improvement. Blue blood Snapback has placed in what are two very deep races.
The Bet: Namesake to win, quinella 2, 8
RACE 2
Remlaps Commander paid the ultimate price for barrier 15 at Randwick last start and he wasn’t too keen on the Heavy 8 either apparently. Won a trial, easily, the other day and has gate 3 around Gosford. Salire draws more bad barriers than most and it has meant that more often than not, he gets snagged back in huge fields and is left with a herculean task. I have never seen him run a bad race, in fact, his ninth (of 16) in the April 15 Highway was creditable at the very least. Gosford? Hmmm.
The Bet: Salire each-way
RACE 3
Eye See Things is the last horse I would think would go well at a track like Gosford but strangely enough, she actually has a good record there. Just worth mentioning that she has raced twice at the track and trip for a second and a third. If the tempo and timing is right, she is as good a chance as any. For a noted barnstormer, Broken Arrows goes well at Gosford. Turning has so many compelling ‘numbers’, barrier 3 is a pretty good one.
The Bet: Eye See Things each-way
RACE 4
Can’t you imagine Fall For Cindy coming back to Gosford and winning the Belle Of The Turf or a Tibbie at Newcastle or maybe something better again. The great-granddaughter of three-time Champion NZ Broodmare Flying Floozie won at Kensington last start with a lot of authority and might still be on the up. Rediener is a last start winner and an impressive one at that. Draw might make it tougher. Toesonthenose is in great form but he’s not alone.
The Bet: Fall For Cindy to win
RACE 5
Hometruths was most unlucky in the Epona on Golden Slipper Day at her Australian debut. Bar that easy trial in the interim, the next time we saw her was at the Hawkesbury stand-alone where she caught the eye chasing home stablemate Pretty Amazing. Logic would suggest that she peaks on Saturday. Biscayne Bay was an eye-catcher when a closing fifth to Pretty Amazing, Hometruths et al in the 1800m race at the Hawkesbury stand-alone. Fourth-up on the weekend and looking for 2100m. Times that last bit by double for Demarcay.
The Bet: Hometruths to win, quinella 5, 9
RACE 6
Shadow Vampire, a fourth-generation son of Emancipation, is a very particular type of horse. All of his three wins are at 1000m and they all came the same way; swooping late off a very fast pace. Gosford is not exactly a swoopers track but at least they will go like the clappers. You would have to delve deep into the trial files to find one on Saturday that has gone much better than Command Approved. The horse has a brilliant first-up record, he beat a handy one called Speak Now down in Canberra as a two-year-old on debut. Kin is in great shape.
The Bet: Shadow Vampire each-way
RACE 7
Think About It has won six of seven (should be seven from seven mind you) but the TAB always lets you on at a decent price. Look at Saturday for example; he went up $3.20 on Wednesday and yes, it is true, he has a terrible barrier and topweight but he might win the Stradbroke in a few starts time. Wrap Around’s grandson, Fashion Legend, won the Vo Rogue at $18 and the Magic Millions Guineas 19-days at $21 so far to say he has been underrated in the past. Not anymore. Blondeau loves this meeting.
The Bet: Fashion Legend to win, quinella 1, 9
RACE 8
Thalassophile’s only run at the Gosford mile prior to Saturday was a huge second in the Group 3 Belle Of The Turf. The Chris Waller-trained mare is in career best form having won a Group 3 and then beaten a neck in another one. If it was a heavy track, she’d be close to a moral. I say it every time, but Welwal should have finished a lot closer and a lot higher up the order in the Golden Eagle. He just to be at his peak now. It might come down to how he gets around Gosford. Pervade had ‘next time’ written all over at Hawkesbury.
The Bet: Thalassophile to win, Pervade to place
RACE 9
Diamil’s campaign has been a simple case of ‘good, better, best’. That is to say, three runs, each one an improvement on the last one. They have all been in deep races too. Easy to like but he is going to need an out somewhere from barrier 1, that’s all. Lord Ardmore was scratched from Friday’s Wagga Gold Cup to run in the Gosford Gold Cup two weeks after his sixth of 14 in the Hawkesbury Gold Cup where he came from 12th at the 400m to be beaten just over three lengths. Take it to the bank that he is closer than that in the run.
The Bet: Diamil to win
RACE 10
Flag Of Honour is, in my humble opinion, the best horse in the race and the only one I could imagine winning a Group 1 and a million dollars before he is finished. Now with all that said, barrier 1, 1200m, Gosford, first-up and with competition is a little red flag without it being abandon ship. Robusto is in-line for his best and most lucrative campaign yet now with a bit of maturity and racing. I love the horse but hate his pattern, especially at Gosford.
The Bet: Flag Of Honour to win
Originally published as Shayne O’Cass’s extended preview and tips for Gosford’s stand-alone meeting
Rain only concern for Moody filly at Flemington
Talented filly Eneeza has one box left to tick this spring when she begins her campaign in the Group 2 Danehill Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.
Sargent buoyed by Sea’s Group 1 potential
With one eye on Group 1 goals later this spring, trainer John Sargent is expecting China Sea to lay down a marker in Saturday’s Listed $200,000 Dulcify Stakes (1600m) at Royal Randwick.
Randwick Turf Talk for Saturday: Mitch’s moral ‘just wins’
Mitch Cohen and Shayne O’Cass debate the chances in all the big races at Royal Randwick on Saturday, where Mitch has a moral on a day featuring three Group 1s and a Premiere sprint.