3 minute read

And just like that, Easter Cup Day arrives. The days are shortening and on the cooling air is a faint scent of the Winter Championships - familiar and fulfilling.

That sweet smell of Winter brings with it the added bonus of a less crammed schedule and therefore deeper, more competitive racing and betting - something well illustrated at Caulfield on Saturday.

Racing's eyes will be primarily focused on Randwick, and the skies above it, but Caulfield provides more than just a distraction. The features are great editions and the card is loaded with interesting runners on which to hold opinions.

Betting in the Easter Cup is headed by First Immortal. His fresh run landed right where you want your Easter Cup winners to be, up to the level but with the promise of more to come. A good favourite then but not an unopposable one and from behind him last time comes the right sort of tool to oppose him with.

Shaiyhar was also first time out and went there with a similarly promising profile from the back half of 2023. A slow pace over the mile saw First Immortal quickly well-positioned while Shaiyhar was waited with at the tail, ultimately being left with too much running to do late on. But run he did; his splits fast and suggesting that he has come back at least as well as he was at the height of his first Australian campaign.

Notably those heights came at 2000m and they place him on the heels of the best of First Immortal. This Easter Cup runs deeper than a match race; Berkeley Square and Carini have strong, three-run bases from which to peak and Future History, who beat First Immortal and Shaiyhar in the Bart Cummings back in the spring, will be better for his rusty return.

Prices push us to Shaiyhar though and he goes up as the play of the day in the feature.

The feature tag is disputed by the Victoria Handicap which also throws up an interesting betting test for punters. The highly-regarded (and rated) Globe goes off an injury-enforced setback and has enough opposition to say that he won't want to be short of his best if he is to justify his place atop early markets.

We will slide on by that race, instead opting to put up an each-way option in race six where Splash Back arrives off a Sandown win that could have her a good few points shorter than the $9.00 currently on offer.

There are a couple in the line-up that have produced peaks that would (likely) prove too hot for Splash Back to handle but those well-performed rivals are stuttering their way in here while Splash Back hits it with momentum. 

Another strong number seems assured - a number that hopefully wins this more often than the price implies. 

THE MELBOURNE MAIL 

Bet Of The Day: Race 9 #11 Shaiyhar @ $7.50 with bet365*

Each Way Play: Race 6 #11 @ $9.00 with bet365*

*Prices correct as of 4:45pm AEST 4/4

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