Overview
Loaded is the best bet on Sunday. He ran second on debut, the Price and Kent Jnr stable places with more than half its Sale runners, and Lachlan Neindorf has hit the frame on half of his 54 rides at the track. The market agrees, and $1.95 is short, but this is the strongest priced selection on the day.
That is three selections from three meetings: Sale, Coonabarabran and Townsville. Loaded and Noble One have live prices. Cifonelli‘s market wasn’t open when this was written, because no bookmaker had priced any race inside a quaddie at any of Sunday’s six meetings.
The best bet
Loaded, Sale Race 1, 1:05, 1.90 with Bet Right.
A second on debut is a modest record, but the connections fill in the rest. The Price and Kent Jnr stable has had 32 runners at Sale and more than half of them finished in the first three. Neindorf is the busiest rider at the track and hits the frame on half of his 54 rides here. In a maiden where most of the field has little to show, that is the solid profile.
The catch is barrier 13. Loaded will need to find cover early or he will be caught wide. Armorware is the danger: a second and a third from two runs this campaign, and barrier 2 for the M M Laurie stable means a soft run on the fence. At $8.50 with Unibet, Armorware is the one to beat the favourite if Loaded is stuck three wide. Win bet, with a small saver on Armorware.
The value bet
Noble One, Coonabarabran Race 2, 1:55, 6.50 with Ladbrokes.
The market has Talakai at $2.90 with Bet Right after two runs back from a spell for a second and a fourth. Noble One has won three of his last five and his latest run was a win. He is the form horse of the race and he is more than twice the price.
M Weir has only ridden at Coonabarabran twice, for a win and a placing, and she rides for Connie Greig, who also has Ichika in the race. Easy Trapezee is the danger at $5.50: two wins from four runs in the last 90 days and more than $30,000 earned. At $6.50, Noble One is the best price on any card on Sunday for a horse with recent winning form. Win bet.
The quaddie angle
Cifonelli, Townsville Race 9, 4:55.
The last leg of the Townsville quaddie is the place to anchor. Cifonelli won the BM70 at Townsville on 18 October at 11/5 and comes straight back to the same track. He has been to Townsville nine times for three wins and seven placings, his form line reads 1-2-1-3-6-1, and the Holt combination is in the saddle again. Five scratchings, including Chartwell, Ellis Beach and Insta Worthy, have taken depth out of the race.
He has 60kg and barrier 7 to deal with. Mclovin is the threat: in the first three in all five runs over the past 90 days, with a win, and he jumps from barrier 1. If he leads and gets his own way, he will be hard to run down. Use Cifonelli as the single in the last leg, and check his price once the market opens.
How these were picked
All three come from Sunday’s full previews for Townsville, Northam, Sale, Coonabarabran, Port Lincoln and Port Macquarie, and live prices decided between picks that were otherwise close. When these were written, bookmakers had priced only the first two or three races at Sale, Coonabarabran, Townsville and Port Macquarie, and no races at all at Northam or Port Lincoln.
That is why several of the day’s strongest previews aren’t here. Forgotten Son goes for three from three at Northam, Chef Militaire has won his last two and has the best course record at Port Lincoln, Ten Commandments heads the Sale Cup on 90-day prize money, Wild Monarch won his only Port Macquarie start, and Mega Pixel has two wins and six placings from his last seven runs. None of them had a price. Siccius at $2.60 at Port Macquarie was the other priced banker, but he finished sixth at his only run in the past three months, so Loaded got the nod. Cifonelli took the quaddie slot over Forgotten Son and Chef Militaire because his record at Townsville is the deepest of the three: nine starts, not two or five.