3 minute read

We head to Bunbury for Listed racing this weekend, with the Bunbury Stakes and Bunbury Cup both competitive events.

It's the south of Perth that reigns supreme this weekend, with Bunbury hosting the Saturday meeting, followed by Albany's Bluff Knoll meeting on Sunday.

I'll focus on Bunbury for the Best From The West, but I'll be avoiding the feature events which were both very difficult to analyse.

Race 7 is the Bunbury Stakes (Listed, 1400m) and 13 of the 15 runners come through the Pinjarra Stakes a fortnight earlier.

At the time of writing, it's currently $6.50* the field and there's no real angle to take.

River Rubicon won narrowly in the Pinjarra Stakes, but he was $17 at the jump, while the favourite Aztec Ruler goes from being a $4 chance at Pinjarra to a $9* a fortnight later.

The market moves will be intriguing leading up to jump time, in what's bound to be a very exciting race.

The Bunbury Cup is a similar story, where all 11 runners come through the Detonator Stakes (1800m) at Ascot two weeks back.

That race was dominated up front by Marocchino, and he's come up the early favourite.

The question of the race is - where does the change come from? Marocchino drew 12 last start and got across to lead, now he draws mich softer in barrier 3. Is the rise in weight enough to stop him?

The shape of the race didn't suit horses like Currimundi and Queen Alina who probably prefer a stiffer test, but will they get that on Saturday afternoon?

While it may be hard to pick a winner in the two features at Bunbury, they're sure to be great viewing come Saturday evening.

That's enough about races I dont' have an opinion in, to a race I have a strong point of view.

Race 2 is a great race for a number of reasons, but there looks to see some value around Number 4 SALT LAKE SHAKE.

The Simon Miller-trained gelding was narrowly beaten first-up on January 24th by the race's second favourite Tycoon Harry.

While Tycoon Harry has gone on to win twice since, the stable pitched Salt Lake Shake into Listen company at the Magic Millions, highlighting the opinion they may have of the gelding.

For their meeting on January 24, Salt Lake Shake meets Tycoon Harry a whopping 6kg better at the weights, with only 0.1L separating them at Belmont that day.

The thorn in the side is Stephen Wolfe's galloper Insyde Success who bolted in at Albany, running good time in the process.

While the win was impressive and he looks to be a very nice horse on the way through, I think the value lies with Salt Lake Shake.

At a similar price in the following event, I'm keen to follow up with DIAMOND ROCKS following her first-up win on the Scarpside at Pinjarra.

The time was one of the slowest on the card, but Diamond Rocks was very good from the position she was in, running home in a blistering 33.12 for her last 600m.

She also returned a new peak figure first-up, indicating the daughter of Awesome Rock is in for a successful campaign this time in.

Diamond Rocks has the room to improve, in contrast to her main market dangers where we've probably seen the best of them.

The bet365 Best From The West

Best Bet: Race 2 Number 4 SALT LAKE SHAKE @ $6* with bet365

Next Best: Race 3 Number 8 DIAMOND ROCKS @ $6* with bet365

*Prices correct as of 2:45pm, March 7th.

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