Strathalbyn Preview & Best Bets – Sunday, May 21 

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

Strathalbyn Tips 21/05/2023

BEST BET 🏆  

Race 4 No. 3 FIGHT FOR FREEDOM – ($5)

Jason Holder has ridden himself into some form and retains the ride on the Bill Bogarts trained FIGHT FOR FREEDOM. Settled back of midfield with him to score a rare second-up win at Oakbank over 1400 metres. Fight For Freedom handled the downhill run as Holder put him into the race before coming away nearer to the outside fence. Fight For Freedom is a horse who typically takes a few runs to find his best and he surprised a few with an early win. We’ll just put a line through his following run as a day off at Balaklava. Bogarts gave him three weeks between runs and Fight For Freedom was just okay when back in trip. Comes to Strathalbyn now with his fifth run in, and Fight For Freedom generally excels on these tighter tracks.

NEXT BEST 🥈  

Race 7 No. 3 CANIDAE – ($5)

The John Hickmott & Carrina Riggs trained CANIDAE caught the eye when resuming in a weak provincial race at Gawler. There hasn’t been much to come out of the race won by Utah Joe to date, though it’s still early days. The run of Canidae in isolation to the rest showed a horse who is ready to win again soon. Caitlin Jones allowed him to lob out the back before finding her path blocked into the straight. The pair made good ground on the other’s while weaving a path to finish behind the placegetters. The training duo wisely placed Canidae back to a restricted benchmark 54 in Bordertown last start. They booked Samuel Payne for the ride and we cheered the victory with them as Canidae stormed home to score. Finds a similar race to follow up in, and typically runs well at Strathalbyn.

BEST VALUE 💰  

Race 5 No. 2 KING OF AVALON – ($6)

Thought KING OF AVALON ran well enough of the locals to follow from his second-up run at Morphettville Parks. The race itself was not overly strong, rating as a BM64 without the depth. King Of Avalon has the scope to get out over further than a mile and is eligible for the Maiden/Class 1 provincial races. Missed the kick several lengths before making ground into fourth place thanks to a smooth ride from Will Price. He’s also a horse who may benefit from a jumps campaign over the border and would think he’s in the right stable for that to be an option. Todd Pannell goes on and will give King Of Avalon every chance following his latest run in Warrnambool.