3 minute read

Randwick Guineas day in Sydney with top shelf racing throughout the card.

Great day of racing in Sydney with the Randwick Guineas and Canterbury Stakes headlining a card littered with brilliant support acts.

The Challenge is one of those with Private Eye opting out of the Newmarket at Flemington and staying at 1000m, having matched motors with Imperatriz for 950m in the Lightning first up.

It was a condensed finish due to a very slow early pace that Private Eye helped set, but whichever way you look at it, beaten a head by Imperatriz is good form and brings with it a rating that would surely win this.

He's been basically up to his peak in his last four runs now, winning The Shorts first up last time in then placing in The Everest, beaten a nose in the Giga Kick (ahead of Think About It) and then beaten a head in the Lightning.

All of these runs are better than anything in this field can run, and by a decent margin. Remarque is perhaps the one better suited at 1000m than Private Eye, who won the Concorde over this route first up in the Spring, but Private Eye handled him in The Shorts and is simply a far better animal.

He stays at 1000m but should be plenty sharp enough given the Lightning was just a dash home and his turn of foot is good enough to sit wherever in the run and win. Getting a few rolls better than even money and I think that's more than fair. Anything black odds is fair.

The other bet I'll be having comes up in the feature of the day, the Group 1 Randwick Guineas (1600m) where I think Celestial Legend can overturn Militarize.

I think you almost have to ignore everything Celestial Legend did before the Hobartville. He's taken his time to step up in distance but exploded once he got to 1400m and the sectionals suggested he's got a new peak incoming.

He was only a few pounds off what Militarize did first up behind Fangirl and I think this race sets up very similarly. They just have to be positive again- the Randwick mile is absolutely perfect for horses drawn wide and he really should be slotting into the 1-1. If that happens, I think he can hold off Militarize.
 

SYDNEY SPECIALS

Bet of the day: Race 6 #1 Private Eye at $2.30

Also backing: Race 8 #3 Celestial Legend at $4.00