3 minute read
A bit of an off week this Saturday as we bridge the gap between The Pinnacles and the Perth Cup, but still plenty of opportunities to find a winner!
The Pinnacles are done for another year, and what a year it was!
Still riding off a high from last weekend's heroics, it's time to look ahead to this Saturday's action with the feature event the final lead up to the Perth Cup to be run on New Year's Day.
A couple that head the market for the Perth Cup are engaged, namely Cup favourite Casino Seventeen, as well as eastern raiders Zoumon and Numerian for Saturday's Ted Van Heemst (Group 2 , 2100m).
Numerian comes across off a somewhat disappointing effort in The Beauford at Newcastle, but gets back to weight-for-age conditions on Saturday which sees him nicely placed. Zoumon and Casino Seventeen are easy to tie together through the Northerly Stakes where there wasn't a lot between them on that occasion.
Rachel King comes across to ride Zoumon who should have the tactical advantage over Casino Seventeen, but it'll be interesting to see how things play out in the first couple of furlongs with Marrochino also known for settling up on the pace.
Enough about the feature though because that looks a hard race to dive into with a whole lot of confidence.
One race I am keen to play in though is the last event on the card, where LENIENCY is the one I want to be with.
The son of Safeguard was close to his best first-up and has been given a very quiet trial between runs to keep him ticking over.
The four-year-old has raced both close to the speed, and running on from the back as he did last start when chasing the in-form Playthatfunkymusic.
He stopped the clock in good time there and if he can improve on the first-up figures, he represents good value at his current price.
It's been a while between drinks for the Grant & Alana Williams-trained LORD GANNICUS, but the writing is on the wall that he's ready to race back into the winners' stall.
The four-year-old is 423 days between wins, but it's what the data shows from his last start that suggests he's ready to get back to winning ways.
In a race farically run which was (by far) the slowest race of the day by Racing and Sports measure, Lord Gannicus found himself in a tough position when 7th in the field of nine turning for home.
He sprinted home in a race fastest 32.98 for the final 600m, much faster than the winner of the race who had the tactical advantage of being out in front.
The run showed that the son of Universal Ruler is ready to get back to his form of some 12 months ago and throw in the booking of Rachel King, it looks a recipe for success.
The bet365 Best From The West
Best Bet: Race 9 Number 5 LENIENCY - $5.50* with bet365.
Best Value: Race 4 Number 10 LORD GANNICUS - $7 and $2.65* with bet365
*Prices correct as of 12:45pm AEDT, December 21.
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