Townsville Preview & Best Bets – 04/04/2024

Townsville Tips for Thursday, April 4

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

BEST BET 🏆

Race 4:  No.8  CHILLI JAM

Yet to taste defeat since arriving in Townsville, the Tony Comerford-trained CHILLI JAM just keeps on winning and looks all set to add another picket to the fence today. Last start, the Hellbent mare brought up the hat-trick when she clobbered a 13-strong field in a Class 3 set weights contest, here over the 1000m sprint. With Graham Kliese aboard, she led on settling, and that was all she wrote, going on to win by more than two lengths over the line. Apprentice, Isabella Teh returns for the ride today after steering the mare to her maiden win here three starts back. Down sharply in grade today and ideally drawn in gate three, the scene looks set for a déjà vu performance and surely just bad luck beats her here.

NEXT BEST 🥈

Race 2:  No.5  MOOLOOLABA

The Georgie Bourke-trained MOOLOOLABA has hit North Queensland with a bang and looks ideally-placed here for back-to-back victories today. Last start, the Turn Me Loose gelding was having his first start for the Bourke camp and after a three-week break, came out and beat home a BM65 field over 1609m trip on the Cluden Park track. With ‘Lethal’ Lacey Morrison in the saddle, the premiership winning jockey rode him a treat that day and drove him to the line, collecting the major prize. He has clearly taken a liking to his new surroundings and meets similar company here with Morrison remaining aboard for this assignment. In the small field today, he looks the testing material in this contest.

BEST VALUE 💰 

Race 5:  No.6  CAPTAIN BOND 

Les Gordy saddles-up local galloper, CAPTAIN BOND here who is first-up and ticks enough boxes to suggest he can serve it up to the more fancied runners in this contest. Last campaign, the Capitalist gelding won three of his five starts and has since enjoyed a 14-week break. Already a two-time winner when first-up, he has won twice in three starts at Cluden Park and has Jackson Murphy in the saddle today who boasts two victories and a runner-up finish with the four-year-old from his three previous rides. He gets the gun-run from gate one today and maps to settle just behind the speed. With the pull at the weights here, he can make it happen today.