Preview & Best Bets – Morphettville 12 August

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

Morphettville 12/08/2023

BEST BET 🏆  

Race 4 No. 4 MERCHANT BOSS ($3.50)

We were quite taken with the win of MERCHANT BOSS on the Parks track two runs back when he demolished his fellow three-year-olds in a BM68 field. Travis Doudle had brought Merchant Boss back to the races following a slight freshen-up and sent him around over 1250m. Merchant Boss was slow to begin before hunting through along the fence from his inside gate. What had us taken in by Merchant Boss was the manner in which he was just trucking from a long way out. He showed brilliance to take the gap when presented before sprinting away under his light weight for Alana Livesey. He then jumped cleanly before coming back in the large field over 1100m on the outer track. Livesey circled them on turning before Merchant Boss let down into the straight for an impressive win. Merchant Boss can announce his arrival by claiming a hattrick of wins on Saturday. 

NEXT BEST 🥈  

Race 7 No. 1 No. 1 NEODIUM ($4)

Should be fair to believe that NEODIUM will have taken some improvement following his first-up run on the Parks track three weeks ago. Not that he should need to either, thought he ran well enough in BM82 grade as it was. Under current weather forecasts we may find a different Morphettville to what we’ve seen in recent meetings. Before the races we automatically assessed horses who raced on the speed as being up against it. We think that run-on bias may not be as prevalent on Saturday. Neodium did race up on the speed over 1400m and took on the in-form leader Metro Legend. Neodium rightly knocked-up into the straight while still running time when beaten three lengths from the winner. Neodium generally races well second-up and will appreciate the step back in class with this race.

BEST VALUE 💰  

Race 2 No. 9 THE BACK PAGE ($11.20)

Punters didn’t miss the jumpouts of THE BACK PAGE and chose to send him around as race favourite in a big field on debut at Murray Bridge. This was despite The Back Page drawing in a seemingly hopeless position relative to how the pace map presented on paper. The race was run as such with The Back Page finishing as the clear black booker of the meeting. Kayla Crowther sticks as trainer Stuart Padman brings the horse to town, and as always, the stable must be respected.