Well-known Queensland media man Nathan Exelby is a constant at the track and has all the inside information as we head into another big weekend of racing in the Sunshine State.
SUNSHINE COAST PICKS UP ‘TRICKY’ PROGRAM
BACK TO the Sunshine Coast for metropolitan racing this week, with the Brisbane Racing Club meeting transferred owing to the ongoing renovation at Eagle Farm.
It’s forced a re-shuffle in the calendar until the scheduled return on March 12 and the Sunshine Coast has picked up this one.
It looks another tricky off-season program.
PSYCHIATRIST looked the good thing of the day in a thin two-year-old race, but Gerald Ryan and the team have opted to try him in the Silver Slipper in Sydney.
PALLADAS gets another chance to break through after a nightmare watch a fortnight ago and TAB are taking no chances this time. Having filled the coffers with his defeat last time, market framers have gone up $1.55 about him notching win number three at start 19 this weekend.
TAMILAIDE was building a similar list of convictions to Palladas before he was skillfully guided home by Ben Thompson last week.
Now the Les Kelly team try their luck for repeat wins in the space of a week and he’s the $2.90 favourite in the fifth event on the card.
He does take on better opposition this time, including SLOW HANDS, who should have finished much closer to PROFIT three weeks ago at this venue.
He’s being served up at $7 early by TAB and with better than $2 the place dividend in an eight-horse field, he’s the way I’m wanting to play the race at this stage.
Brian Wakefield strips the blinkers off ROMAN AUREUS ($4.20) as he goes back to 1400m this week.
He just found EF TROOP ($3.90) a bit zippy for him in the latter stages at Doomben, but should be able to turn the tables out to 1400m. DREAMREACHER ($3.40) heads the pair of them in the early market after coming from an impossible position to win at Doomben.
It looks a good clash between the three of them, with ENTERPRISE KEREN ($7) thrown into the mix as well.
The 1000m 3YO Handicap will be one of the better betting races on the card, with ZUMA CALIFORNIA returning after a short break. He was a real surprise packet for connections winning his first two, then measuring up to a stronger race when running second at his third outing. TAB are guarded with him and he heads the market at $3.10.
The Benchmark 72 (1000m) is the toughest race on the card, with Premier trainer Tony Gollan stacking the decks with five acceptors.
MISCHIEF MANAGED is the most interesting of them, now in his first full campaign with the stable.
He raced well a couple of times at the back end of last prep and gets a nice run here.
O’DEA-HOYSTED STAR CONTINUES TO RISE
AN UPDATE on that Steve O’Dea-Matt Hoysted stat from a couple of weeks back.
The year of 2022 now reads out at 42 runners for 17 winners (40%) with the metropolitan tally reading as eight from their past 12 since January 22, with Wednesday’s juvenile double of SHE’SGOTTHEBOOM and PRINCE SHALAA boosting the tally.
The team have three runners accepted for the Sunshine Coast metro on Saturday and naturally enough, all three are leading chances.
OSAMU switches from the Annabel Neasham camp after a narrow last start miss at Doomben. He’s an early $3.60 favourite for the Benchmark 72 Handicap (1000m).
CANADIAN DANCER ($3.10) also comes up favourite in the 3YO Open Handicap (1600m), while BUYING TIME is second pick at $4 for the 1000m 3YO event.
Boris Thornton rides Buying Time and while his 2022 scorecard isn’t quite as bulked up as the training partnership, his past 30-odd rides would be the envy of many other riders in the room.
Thornton’s last 10 winners have come from just 31 rides and he continues to make the most of all opportunities given to him, even though he’s not riding big numbers each week.
JOCKEYS PAD UP FOR CHARITY
PUNTERS should get behind the local charity jockey T20 Cricket match in Brisbane on March 7.
A City Slickers vs Country All Stars format has been devised, with Sunshine Coast trainer Tom Button leading the charge for Country and Larry Cassidy heading up the City brigade.
The match will raise funds for Save A Horse Australia and the National Jockeys Trust.
It will be live streamed through Facebook, so people from all around the state and country can tune in.
The SKY cameras went to the City practice session last week, where there were some wild and wacky bowling actions on display and plenty of ‘cow corner’ across the line strokes being played by batsmen.
Jaden Lloyd had butter fingers in the field but showed plenty of pace in the nets and will be one for the Country batsmen to watch out for.
He revealed he had played junior cricket to a reasonably high level in his younger days, but realised it was time to give it away when “every ball I faced was whizzing past my head!’
It's sure to get willing at times, but it should be a fun day for everyone involved and provide lots of entertainment for those at the ground and tuning in via the live stream.
The match is to be played at Norths Cricket Oval from 4pm on March 7.
RIDERS OK AFTER DOOMBEN FALL
The Doomben trials set down for Tuesday, but re-scheduled for Thursday were officially abandoned after a nasty fall early in the session.
Riders Madeleine Wishart and Leah Kilner came down after Wishart’s mount broke down approaching the 800m turn.
Additional ambulances were called to the scene and the riders attended to for a prolonged period of time.
Racing Queensland jockey advocate Shane Scriven reported the pair were conscious as they left the track and escorted to hospital.
Both were in severe pain, although Scriven said the early signs suggested that neither sustained any long term injuries, which was a relief for everyone involved.
BEST BETS
- Canadian Dancer: Race 4 - $3.10
- Explosive Quality: Race 9 - $9