3 minute read
Best bets for a big day of Stakes racing at Morphettville on Saturday.
As we edge even closer to the carnival, we arrive back at headquarters after our Oakbank sojourn and are treated to a stacked card of stakes racing, with four Listed events and two Group 3s to wet the appetite for what's around the corner.
The two-year-olds open our black type proceedings in the Listed Without Fear Stakes (1050m), where Bryon Cozamanis' speedy filly Never Ordinary looks to make it three on the bounce but currently shares favouritism with Michael Hickmott's unbeaten colt Ole Go, who was an impressive maiden winner on the Parks track on January 31. The market has it clearly pegged between those two, with Ciaron Maher's debutant Blue Meteor the only other runner marked inside double digits.
Different Gravy from the Henry Dwyer camp heads the market in the Listed Port Adelaide Guineas (1800m) and is looking to rebound after a first-up effort at Caulfield that was far too bad to be true. His spring form is a class or two above this lot and a quick freshen might be all he needs to snap back into gear, while Matahga from the Phillip Stokes yard represents plenty of value off two solid runs this campaign and should be better suited stepping out further.
On Display from the Price & Kent team brings the superior formlines into the Listed City Of Adelaide Stakes (1529m) and should be peaking third up after finishing full of running behind Treasurethe Moment in the Group 2 Sunline Stakes (1600m) at Flemington. She draws to get the gun run and deserves top spot in early betting, though Cash remains a danger after clearly going to a new level last start when running to 105 on the Racing and Sports scale in a dominant four‑length BM82 win. Robert Hickmott looks to have unlocked him now and he'll be hard to stop on the minimum.
We're then treated to a cracking spectacle between the three-year-olds in the Redelva Stakes (1100m), where I'm leaning to Andrew Gluyas' talented filly Bassett Babe, who was terrific at Caulfield last start behind the smart Point Barrow - who jumped a $2.60 favourite in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate first-up. She should be at peak fitness now and this has always been a target.
In the first of the Group 3s, the R N Irwin Stakes (1100m), I'm siding with the Nathan Doyle-trained Hidden Motive, who was super fresh when missing by a long neck to Beadman and Inkaruna in the Listed Fireball Stakes (1100m) at Randwick. He clearly went amiss in the Darby Munro, so happy to put a line through it, and being only a smidge off his peak RAS figure of 114 - the number he posted when winning the Group 2 Roman Consul - he'll be taking care of them if he gets anywhere near that fresh form.
The last of the features is the Group 3 Auraria Stakes (1800m) for the three-year-old fillies, and after dominating the key lead‑up in the Clare Lindop Stakes (1600m), Stung from the Hayes camp heads early betting and rightly so. She's produced back‑to‑back career peaks to launch this important campaign and was running away from them late over the mile, so she should be even stronger out to 1800m. While barrier 14 isn't ideal, Daniel Stackhouse reunites and is more than capable of offsetting it and putting her into a good spot without burning too much fuel. With the gate my only (slight) concern, I'm more than happy to label her the best bet on the card.
Say From SA:
Best: R9 #2 Stung
Also backing: R8 #11 Hidden Motive