Overview
Markos Port is the best bet of Tuesday. He has run third, second and third at his last three starts, all inside the past 90 days, he placed at his only Hawkesbury visit, and the 1969m on a Good to Soft track asks for exactly the grinding effort he keeps producing.
Three selections from three meetings: Hawkesbury, Swan Hill and Rockhampton. The best bet and the value bet both have live prices. The quaddie angle runs in the last race at Hawkesbury, and its market wasn’t open when this was written.
The best bet
Markos Port, Hawkesbury Race 4, 3:05, 3.10 with Bet Right.
Consistency is the case. Markos Port hasn’t finished worse than third in any of his three runs in the last 90 days, and the Let’s Talk Maiden Plate is a staying test for a horse who keeps coming at the end. Regan Bayliss rides for G Waterhouse and A Bott, who have won with seven of their 37 runners at Hawkesbury.
Rye Manhattan is the danger. He ran second at his latest start, carries 121.2kg against Markos Port‘s 130kg, and John O’Shea and Tom Charlton have won five of their ten runs at this track, with Zac Lloyd booked. That weight pull is real over this trip. Win bet on Markos Port.
The value bet
Jungle Rhythm, Rockhampton Race 1, 1:45, 14.00 with Neds.
Two starts at Rockhampton, two wins, and he won his latest run as well. A horse that keeps turning up at this track shouldn’t be double figures, and at 14.00 the market is pricing the favourite and overlooking the course record of this one.
The favourite is the problem. The Barber won his only Rockhampton start, his recent figures read 1-2-1, and he is the class runner in the race despite 132.2kg. Jungle Rhythm doesn’t need to beat him to pay, so the play is a small each-way ticket rather than a big win bet.
The quaddie angle
Angel Hair, Hawkesbury Race 8, 5:30.
The Hawkesbury quaddie runs Races 5 to 8, and Angel Hair is the horse to anchor it on in the last leg. She won her only start at Hawkesbury, followed a fourth with a win at her latest run, and Zac Lloyd rides for Matthew Smith. Lloyd has ten winners from 36 rides at the track, and Smith has seven winners from 38 runners there.
Low Down won on debut and Scuro Star won her only Hawkesbury run, so both could still be improving. Low Down gets in at 121.2kg, the bigger weight relief of the two, and is the one to cover if you want a second runner in the leg. Single Angel Hair if you need to save combinations elsewhere.
How these were picked
All three come from the full previews for Hawkesbury, Swan Hill and Rockhampton, and price decided between selections that looked close on form.
Rockhampton’s top pick, Metalcraft, has the strongest form of any horse running on Tuesday, with three straight wins and two wins from two at the track, but his race had no market open when this was written, so Markos Port takes the best bet slot with a real price beside him. Swan Hill’s top pick, Magna Sententia, comes off a debut second, which is a thinner case than Markos Port‘s three placings. No quaddie leg at any of the three meetings had a price yet, so the quaddie angle went on form alone, and Angel Hair‘s course win with Zac Lloyd aboard made her the clearest anchor ahead of The Defender at Rockhampton and Neziha at Swan Hill.