Moonee Valley Preview & Best Bets – Friday September 23

in Bets of the Day 21 Sep 2022

Our form expert provides Moonee Valley tips for today’s horse racing at Moonee Valley Racecourse and gives his best bets.

Moonee Valley Tips 23/09/2022

BEST BET 🏆

Race 3 No. 3 CLEMENCEAU ($2.40)

Race 3 at The Valley is a BenchMark 84 over the 1200m and CLEMENCEAU should be hard to beat. The Team Hawkes-trained galloper resumed at Rosehill on September 10 and was held up early on in the straight before running on and filling the exacta behind Remarque. He went 7.7 lengths faster than standard benchmark, which are the second best last start figures of any runner. While he was a tad disappointing when second up at Caulfield in the autumn, he did improve five lengths on figures when second up at his previous preparation when scoring over the 1200m here. The son of Capitalist has attracted support in the early betting and will be ridden by Jye McNeil.

NEXT BEST 🥈

Race 5 No. 8 ASFOORA- ($2.60)

Race 5 is Heat 1 of the 55 Second Challenge and ASFOORA should be hard to beat. The Henry Dwyer-trained galloper has won four of five and resumed at Sandown on September 7, scorching to a four length win ahead of Galenus. The four-year-old went a very healthy 10.6 lengths faster than standard, which are the best last start figures of any runner. At her previous preparation she went from a Colac debut win to a Caulfield BenchMark 70 win before running 3rd at Group 3 level. The daughter of Flying Artie has drawn perfectly in barrier 3 and can go on with the job.

NEXT BEST 🥈

Race 1 No. 2 SHALAMAN– ($3.80)

Night racing returns to Moonee Valley for the first time this season and keen on SHALAMAN to get us off to a flyer. The Matt Laurie-trained galloper has had four runs this time in, winning two and finishing runner-up in a further two. His past three runs have been at the Valley and he was runner-up behind Alpha One before just missing out behind Fast Witness. At his most recent start, the son of Shalaa dug deep to hold out Merdius, who has since finished runner-up in the Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m). He went 6.1 lengths faster than standard in that race, which is better than what any horse in this race has produced. Look for him to settle in the first few and give us a great contest.

BEST VALUE 💰(EACH-WAY)

Race 6 No. 1 NONCONFORMIST– ($9)

Best Value comes up in Race 6 and it is NONCONFORMIST that can go close at the each-way quote. The Caulfield Cup (2400m) runner-up from last year has also accepted for the Underwood Stakes (1800m) on Sunday. But if connections opt for the Valley we can expect him to land closer than recent runs. First up he was ok when 8th over the unsuitable 1400m trip in the Memsie Stakes before being ridden a bit upside down when fading to 7th in the Maybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington. He did go 8.5 lengths faster than standard benchmark in that race, which are the second best last start figures of any runner. Last year, he improved seven lengths on figures when third up, claiming the Naturalism Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield. He has a bit of class on this lot and did claim the Alister Clark Stakes at his only go at the track and trip.