Overview
Imperial Royale is the best bet of the day, a horse that won and then ran second at its last two starts and now gets Tommy Berry for Bjorn Baker in the Bm64 over 1,300m at Hawkesbury. At $2.45 with Palmerbet the price is short, but the form, the booking and a kind draw all point the same way.
All three selections come from one meeting, Hawkesbury, out of the four covered today, and all three carry live prices at the time of writing. Prices were up at Hawkesbury, Ipswich and Warrnambool when this was written, but not yet at Northam.
The best bet
Imperial Royale, Hawkesbury Race 2, 2:25, 2.45 with Palmerbet.
Imperial Royale‘s last two runs read a win and then a second, with one win and two top-three finishes from three starts over the past 90 days. Berry and Baker have teamed up six times at Hawkesbury for one winner, with half of those rides finishing in the placings, and Baker on his own places more than half of his runners at the track. With 57kg from barrier 5, Berry should be able to settle just off the speed.
The danger is Fast Track. O’Shea and Charlton have won five from eight at Hawkesbury, and the horse has finished in the top three in all five runs shown. Fast Track is $4.00 with Unibet and makes the best exacta saver.
The value bet
Wormington, Hawkesbury Race 3, 3:05, 6.00 with Bet Right.
Wormington is a last start winner who placed on the only previous visit to Hawkesbury, and jumps from barrier 1 with 58kg. Zac Lloyd rides, and he has nine winners from 32 rides at the track. Richard Litt wins with one in four of his Hawkesbury runners.
The favourite Stallone carries 61kg and was fourth last time, so the market looks to be leaning on reputation more than recent form. Heard Of Him, a winner at its only start at the course, is the main danger at $5.50 with Unibet. Win bet on Wormington, with a small saver on Heard Of Him.
The quaddie angle
March, Hawkesbury Race 4, 3:40, 4.80 with Bet Right.
Race 4 opens the Hawkesbury quaddie, and March is the pick in it. Third on debut, the only run so far, and now stepping up to 1,600m for the Hawkes team, which has won six of 17 at the track and placed with twelve. Tyler Schiller has ridden more Hawkesbury winners than anyone on today’s card, nine from 52.
This is a race where one runner alone is a risk, so take March as the main leg and add I Am Dynasty, second and then third from two starts and $5.00 with Bet Right. Six Waller maidens line up as well, led in the market by Your Attitude at $4.40 with Unibet, but none of them has a standout form line.
How these were picked
These three come from the full previews for Hawkesbury, Ipswich, Warrnambool and Northam, and the choice came down to form and price together. Hawkesbury had the deepest set of priced cases, which is why it supplies all three.
Filthy, the Ipswich NAP, has placed at both career starts and has Ben Thompson aboard, but 60kg on a lightly raced horse at $3.40 with Bet Right is a bigger ask than Imperial Royale faces. Who I Think I Am, the Warrnambool NAP at $3.80 with Unibet, has three placings from four runs since mid July but no win in that stretch. Wiluna Lass, the Northam NAP, has won two in a row, but Northam had no market open when this was written. In the quaddie races at Ipswich, Warrnambool and Northam no prices were up yet, so bankers such as Cantankerous and Empire Of Rome missed out to a priced runner.