Newcastle Racing Tips Sept 18: Can Princess Cruizer Repeat?
Townsville Racing Tips Sept 18 — Briginshaw’s Big Test?
Overview
T Button doesn’t need much luck at Townsville. The stable has sent out 80 runners at the course for 15 winners and 32 minor placings, and when Button legs up B Kennedy specifically, the numbers tighten further: 25 rides together at this track for eight wins and 14 places. Today Button fires three runners into the meeting, and one of them, Zemoreya, steps back into the same colours that got her home at this circuit three weeks ago. That’s the kind of connections angle worth building a Saturday around, and it’s one of several threads running through these Townsville racing tips for a compact four-race card on the turf. Briginshaw carries topweight in the opener off a perfect record at the track, a maiden plate throws up eleven winless types with no standout, the Errol Sewell sprint fields sixteen runners in the toughest puzzle of the day, and the feature closes out with a weight-versus-figures argument between two legitimate chances. Four races, a manageable card to get through properly, and enough in the data to back a clear opinion in three of them.
Townsville — the setup
These Townsville racing tips lean hardest on the form that’s actually held up at the track rather than assumptions about the surface, and course form is thin across large parts of this card, as it often is at a track that shares its stable base with Cairns, Mackay and Bowen, but where it exists it points somewhere useful. Briginshaw, Free Carry and Tambo’s Justice have all built genuine profiles here — five, four and four runs respectively, with not a finish worse than second between the trio in their combined course starts. Looming One has raced here ten times without winning but keeps finding minor money, placing in half its starts, and To Love Somebody has started seven times at the track without ever hitting the frame, which tells its own story about swapping loyalty for hope. Elsewhere the sample sizes drop away fast — most of today’s runners have one or two Townsville starts on the board, so lean on the wider campaign form and the stable’s intent rather than anything the track itself has to say.
| Horse | Runs | Wins | Places | Win% | Place% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Briginshaw | 5 | 2 | 5 | 40.0 | 100.0 |
| Free Carry | 4 | 1 | 4 | 25.0 | 100.0 |
| Tambo’s Justice | 4 | 2 | 4 | 50.0 | 100.0 |
| Overland | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0.0 | 50.0 |
| Looming One | 10 | 0 | 5 | 0.0 | 50.0 |
| Northern Pride | 5 | 1 | 2 | 20.0 | 40.0 |
The jockeys’ room tells a clean story too. B Kennedy leads the way on place strike rate from a sample big enough to trust, with R Wiggins and S Cormack close behind — all three have well over a hundred combined course rides between them, so this isn’t noise.
| Jockey | Runs | Wins | Places | Win% | Place% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B Kennedy | 46 | 12 | 23 | 26.1 | 50.0 |
| R Wiggins | 132 | 30 | 63 | 22.7 | 47.7 |
| S Cormack | 101 | 19 | 47 | 18.8 | 46.5 |
| Ashley Butler | 27 | 5 | 11 | 18.5 | 40.7 |
| Aidan Holt | 125 | 17 | 50 | 13.6 | 40.0 |
| I Fry | 132 | 15 | 40 | 11.4 | 30.3 |
On the training side, William Kenning (Free Carry) actually leads the place-rate column despite fewer runners than the bigger stables, with Georgie Holt (Tambo’s Justice, Colleano) and S J Royes (Turn Bird) both carrying sample sizes well into three figures at the track.
| Trainer | Runs | Wins | Places | Win% | Place% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Kenning | 42 | 6 | 24 | 14.3 | 57.1 |
| Georgie Holt | 131 | 25 | 59 | 19.1 | 45.0 |
| S J Royes | 87 | 14 | 37 | 16.1 | 42.5 |
| T Button | 80 | 15 | 32 | 18.8 | 40.0 |
| Taylor Connor | 5 | 1 | 2 | 20.0 | 40.0 |
| Sharlee Hoffman | 13 | 2 | 4 | 15.4 | 30.8 |
Race-by-race
Race 1: Mitavite Hcp — 13:07, 1312m
The market has to work out whether Briginshaw’s topweight of 132.2kg cancels out the fact that it simply hasn’t been beaten out of a place at this track. Five runs here, two wins, five places — every single start has landed in the money, and the last six runs everywhere read 3-1-3-2-3-1, meaning it hasn’t finished worse than third since well before winter. That kind of consistency, carried by I Fry for a stable that’s placed 29% of its Townsville runners across 124 combined course runs, is hard to leave out regardless of the weight.
The complication is a pair of debut winners drawn into the same race. Far And Wide scored on debut and comes into this fitter for the experience, while Red Scentsation put a maiden win together last start for Alisha Taylor, a stable already working off two wins and three places from four runs at the track. Neither has been tested carrying weight or racing three-year-olds this experienced, and that’s the gap Briginshaw exploits. Win bet, with the debutant improvers watched rather than backed.
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Race 2: Caroma Mdn Plate — 13:42, 1760m
Eleven runners and not one of them has won a race — this is the definition of a watch-and-learn maiden, and pretending otherwise does the reader no favours. If there’s a shape to lean on, it’s that the longer 1760m trip should suit the horses building into their races late rather than those flashing home too late to matter over shorter. Overland fits that description best: six runs at Townsville for three places and a second-up placing under R Wiggins last start, and Wiggins partners S Massingham’s runners here often enough that the booking looks deliberate rather than convenient. Gotcha Moment has flashed home from off the pace too but with less to show for it, placing just once from three runs this campaign, and Roth Authority has managed two places from five without ever threatening the winner. Small each-way interest in Overland, nothing more — this is a watch race for anything stronger than that.
Race 3: Jo Hassett – 2026 TTC Errol Sewell Award Hcp (55) — 14:17, 1094m
Button sending Zemoreya back out says plenty on its own. She won her only run at this track last start, over course and distance, at odds of 9/2, with B Kennedy in the saddle and Button in her corner — the same combination that has combined for 14 wins from 39 rides everywhere, and eight wins from 25 specifically at Townsville. That’s not a one-off; it’s a stable and rider who know how to win at this circuit together, doing it again with the horse that delivered last time.
Sixteen runners makes this the hardest puzzle on the card regardless of the selection, and the danger is Tipped Off, who has placed in three of its last four runs and hit the frame in both starts at Townsville, including a win. Airborne Hotdog also deserves mention on the strength of two wins from five runs this campaign. Given the field size, this reads as a place-market race more than a confident win bet — back Zemoreya each-way and treat the win dividend as a bonus.
Race 4: Mind Over Matter – 2026 TTC Horse Of The Year Hcp — 14:57, 1531m
Tambo’s Justice grinds out results carrying weight; Free Carry racks up placings without ever quite getting there. Both are legitimate chances in this feature, and the shape of the race — whether it’s run home hard or unwinds into a sprint — will likely decide which profile the punters walk away happy with. Tambo’s Justice has won two of four runs this campaign and placed in all four of its starts at Townsville, but it shoulders 137.7kg today, the biggest impost in the field, for Georgie Holt’s stable and Aidan Holt in the saddle — a combination operating off real volume at this track (131 runs, 19% winners). Free Carry, by contrast, has placed in all four of its Townsville runs, an average finishing position of 1.75 that’s about as tight as course form gets without a winning percentage to match, and William Kenning’s stable places well over half its runners here.
The two met three weeks ago at Cairns over this same 1531m trip. Tambo’s Justice, sent out at 23/10, finished ahead of Free Carry at 25/1, though both were held out of the placings that day, so it’s a data point rather than a verdict. If the topweight tells against Tambo’s Justice late, Free Carry’s course figures make it the swoop. Win bet on Tambo’s Justice, with Free Carry the each-way alternative if you want to hedge the weight question.
The plays
Briginshaw is the horse I keep coming back to. Every course start has produced a place, the recent form line shows nothing worse than third in six runs, and the weight is the only thing standing between it and a straightforward book. That’s the number one play of the day.
Zemoreya is where the value sits. A single Townsville run says little on its own, but pair it with a jockey-trainer combination that’s winning nearly a third of its rides together at this circuit and the market’s likely to undercook a horse with only one start to its name. There’s a second, smaller angle behind her too: T Button also saddles Spiritof The Ocean in the same race and Northern Pride in the feature, so the stable clearly rates its Townsville hand today. For the safest multi leg, Tambo’s Justice has placed at every single course appearance and comes into this off a two-from-four campaign, even carrying the topweight. Free Carry owns the best place credentials on the card — four runs, four places, an average finish inside two lengths of the winner most days. The repeatable course angle is simple: T Button and B Kennedy together, wherever they’re paired up at Townsville, deserve respect regardless of the price. That’s the shape of today’s Townsville racing tips in short: one horse that’s never missed the frame here, one that’s about to prove its single course run wasn’t a fluke. If Button keeps sending runners out in that combination, he’ll be the trainer to track at every Townsville meeting from here.
Best bookmakers for today’s racing
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FAQ
What time does racing start at Townsville today?
The first race, the Mitavite Hcp, jumps at 13:07 local time, with four races completing the card through to the 14:57 feature.
Who are the top trainers and jockeys at Townsville today?
B Kennedy leads the jockeys on place strike rate at 50% from 46 course rides, with R Wiggins and S Cormack both over 45% from well over a hundred rides each. Among trainers running today, William Kenning tops the place column at 57% from 42 runs, while Georgie Holt and T Button both sit above 18% winners from well over 80 course runs apiece.
What are the best bets at Townsville today?
Briginshaw in Race 1 is the standout, unbeaten for a placing across five course starts and racing at a level below its recent form. Zemoreya in Race 3 is the value angle, returning to the scene of her only course win under the same jockey-trainer combination.
Where can I find the best odds for Townsville races?
Live market pricing wasn’t available for this meeting at the time of writing, so treat any odds mentioned above as a guide from recent form rather than today’s board. Compare prices across the bookmakers listed below before placing a bet.
