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By Brad Gray

The covers finally come off 2. Metallicity after a couple of false starts. The colt’s trials have been there for everybody to see. They’ve been brilliant. He looks a very smart two-year-old winning all three of his heats for Peter and Paul Snowden and already finds himself at the pointy end of Golden Slipper betting despite still being unraced. He was ridden with cover in all three of those outings and produced a devastating turn of foot, and is such a sweet mover. Not sure where he’ll find himself in the run here but with likely leader Rise Of The Masses drawn two inside OF him, there might be an opportunity for Tommy Berry to camp outside of the lead. The son of Zoustar is a half-brother to Gimcrack Stakes winner Catch Me. We’ve been waiting all season for a standout colt to put their hand up. This might be the one.

Dangers: Not surprised that fellow debutant 9. Miss Faberge was met with early support given how she cruised through the line in a recent barrier trial behind subsequent Inglis Millennium winner Xtravagant Star. She is a half relation to Criterion and Comin’ Through. Expect her to be to find her feet in the second half of the field. 6. Rise Of The Masses didn’t beat much on debut at Kembla Grange when starting $1.70 but it was a Heavy 10. The blinkers go on here and she again showed speed in a barrier trial win since. 7. Sandpaper’s form line from his Canterbury win on debut was upgraded on Wednesday at Warwick Farm after Rubusto bolted in. He had every favour there but again maps to get a perfect trail.

How To Play It: Metallicity WIN

Siding with the tried and true Highway performer in 3. Lord Desanimaux. This’ll be the six-year-old’s 16th Highway overall and his 10th in a row! He ran second to stablemate Say You over 1800m three runs back before a six week freshen saw him show up with another second back to 1500m behind Banju. He then ran again over 1500m two weeks later but it was probably the run he had to have to get him here, back out to 1800m. He settled at the rear and speared through the middle of the field late, doing his best work through the line. Tyler Schiller rode him that day and he maintains the ride with the apprentice’s 2kg claim seeing Lord Desanimaux just 1kg above the 54kg minimum. Incredibly, he has run second on 15 occasions for just two wins but he gets a perfect opportunity to add to his tally.

Dangers: 2. Highlights ran over the mile for the first time at Tamworth last start and he relished it. With only 11 starts to his name there’s still plenty for Cody Morgan to work with. The barrier doesn’t look anywhere near as daunting when you take out the emergencies. Still might need a touch of luck slotting in somewhere.4. Racketeering found the fast lane at Rosehill last start but really motored to the line late.

How To Play It: Lord Desanimaux WIN

A James McDonald special on Crystal Pegasus was all that denied 6. Casino Kid winning again at Rosehill last start. Casino Kid lost absolutely nothing in defeat and his splits home suggest that another increase in distance won’t pose a problem. He nipped home in a sharp 33.89s for his last 600m two weeks ago at the end of 2000m. He is on trial at 2400m but he gives every indication that he’ll relish it and the claim of his regular rider Reece Jones sees him in half a kilo above the minimum. Jan Bowen has done an exceptional job placing this horse all preparation and the Muswellbrook-based trainer has found another perfect race for her four-year-old, who despite having 23 starts to his name, is only now starting to really hit his straps.

Dangers: 1. Fun Fact hasn’t found the front in many races recently, to his detriment. The six-year-old is most dynamic when allowed to control the race, build through his gears when it suits him and try to pinch a winning break at the 400m mark. He was heavily backed at Warwick Farm last start but once Navy Cross rolled to the front, his chances nosedived. Had to go back nearly three years to find the last time he raced in this grade. Ellen Hennessey is a clever booking too. 2. Outlandos went straight past Fun Fact four weeks ago at the Gold Coast. He hasn’t raced since but he has now put in a couple of performances to suggest that another win is very close.

How To Play It: Casino Kid WIN

It’s advantage 1. Delexo in terms of finding the front from a low draw. He is a sprinter that musters very quickly and Capital Reign would need to be really humming in the early stages for James McDonald to hand up. This four-year-old took giant strides last campaign for trainer Kristen Buchanan, starting the preparation off in a Class 1 at Muswellbrook before ending it as a $2.70 favourite in a BM78 on Golden Eagle day at Rosehill. He was well held that day but had come to the end of it and was tipped out thereafter. Won on the Kensington track with pure sustained speed, breaking the track record in the same grade as this. Does carry 60.5kg now having won four of his 10 starts but with two nice trials under the belt, there’s every indication he’ll at least run to the level we saw last time in.

Dangers: 2. Capital Reign is a very fast horse himself and was only collared late at Randwick three weeks ago when tackling 1100m for the first time, and he did it first up. He is yet to be led in seven career starts and that includes two 900m wins. That Randwick race has already produced two subsequent winners. 6. Mabel has retuned better than ever this time back, chasing a hattrick. Both of those wins were in country company but there was plenty of substance to those victories on the clock. Little wary of her staying at 1000m for the third run in a row but if the two leaders set it up for a closer, she looks the best placed to take advantage. Not a lot went right for 4. Cobia first up and he was a significant drifter to boot. Could improve sharply.

How To Play It: Delexo WIN

Many of the key chances in this come through the same race, which in theory should make it simple. It doesn’t. At the price, am willing to take the punt on 3. Opacity finding his best form again. Concede that his two runs this time back look awful on paper but there are some obvious parallels to what he did last preparation first and second up before winning third up. Want to be very forgiving of his last three weeks ago behind Lackeen and Canasta as he found himself trapped deep throughout. Going back to last campaign, he tackled the Randwick mile on a soft track and put a space on his rivals with Order Again running a distant second. In fact, the five-year-old’s third up record overall reads 4:3-0-0. Draws a perfect gate to be smothered up on the fence a couple of pair’s back.

Dangers: 4. Canasta is testing the patience of punters but he continues to race well. Looked to be beaten on his merits last start but perhaps going very slow early before cranking up the pressure isn’t the way to get the best out of him, perhaps it’s a more rolling, sustained gallop. Maybe I’m just clutching at straws. He’ll give another sight. 2. Yiyi was beaten fair and square by stablemate 1. Wairere Falls last start, giving the impression he might want 2000m now. In his favour is the likelihood of a wet track. At least one with the cut out of the ground, always. Wairere Falls can certainly go back-to-back, sprinting very quickly last start. 6. O’Mudgee, fifth in that same race, clocked the fastest closing splits across the entire meeting and isn’t out of the picture either here, despite the tricky draw.

How To Play It: Opacity WIN

Keep coming back to 1. Lost And Running. He proved at the backend of last preparation when fourth in the TAB Everest, second in the Classique Legend to Eduardo and winning The Hunter, that he sits right near the top as far as sprinters go in the country. It took the five-year-old a couple of runs into the campaign to find that form but he had genuine excuses first up last preparation when running last in The Shorts. He was back and wide from a tricky draw, overraced in the middle stages, found himself on the worst part of the track that meeting and pulled up lame. If there’s not enough there to forget the run, there never will be! He maps beautifully on Saturday, likely finding the one-one. Has trialled as well as ever and looks set for another big carnival.

Dangers: 5. Embracer can be a touch slow into stride but there’s nothing to his immediate outside in this that’ll be looking to cross him. That should give Regan Bayliss the chance to kick up. It took an exceptional performance from Private Eye for him to be beaten first up over the Randwick 1200m last preparation. 4. Chat is an explosive sprinter on his day and has won his last two first up runs. He beat Embracer in the Theo Marks last campaign. Like the look of this speed map for him too. The same can’t be said for 2. Laws Of Indicies. Convinced there is a big win in this import over the autumn, however. 3. Overpass was perhaps flattered by the initiative Tim Clark showed to lead up the Expressway field but he is a very talented colt. 9. King Of Sparta won’t want the track to be too wet.

How To Play It: 1. Lost And Running WIN

The spring fillies were very evenly matched with four different winners of the Princess Series legs. There was no dominant female three-year-old. Then late in the piece along came 8. Espiona. The daughter of Extreme Choice hasn’t yet matched motors with the likes of Four Moves Ahead or Jamaea yet they are the ones looking over their shoulder as what Espiona did in her two first starts was simply breathtaking. She zipped through the deteriorating track at Warwick Farm on debut to win by 3.5 lengths eased down before backing that up with a 6.5 length demolition of her rivals at Flemington out to 1400m, when jumping $1.35. There is no telling what her ceiling is at the moment but given what she did at just start two, the reputation she already has is not unwarranted. She’s a budding star.

Dangers: Stablemate 5. Fangirl is a very smart filly in her own right and her exploits over the spring shouldn’t be left in the shadow of Espiona. This isn’t a second stringer. She put the boys to the sword in the Carbine Club over the mile. Second there Brigantine had previously run Hilal to a couple of lengths. Maps nicely in this. 12. Zouzarella won well in soft conditions at her second ever start. Love the way she dashed home in a recent Warwick Farm barrier trial. The edge may be off 13. Jal Lei staying at 1200m second up but John O’Shea recognises that and puts the blinkers on for the first time. She should have no problem making the leap into Group company. 9. Heresy is triple figure odds! This is a filly that Bruckner and Artorius only just edged past in the spring as a $5.50 pop and she’ll get the run of the race.

How To Play It: Espiona WIN

1. Think It Over has won six of his last ten starts, over his last two campaigns. Make no mistake now, the unassuming six-year-old is one of the country’s best weight-for-age horses. In three of those four defeats the margin has been less than a length too. Kerry Parker paired his gelding with Nash Rawiller at the backend of last preparation and the pair proved unstoppable. The map looks perfectly set up for Think It Over too. A wide draw with Riodini to his immediate inside will allow Rawiller to roll across in his own time to settle outside of the lead. Think It Over ran sixth first up over 1400m last preparation but was very unlucky, and again, the margin was just 0.6 lengths in a bunched finish. Verry Elleegant holds a three-nil verdict over Think It Over but he’s had genuine excuses in their last two clashes.

Dangers: The wetter the track, the better the chances of 10. Colette. She’s a little whippet that skips through the mud. Twelve months ago in this very race she relished the soft track to win well. It’s perhaps the other way with 6. Riodini, with the front-running gelding best suited to firmer conditions. Rachel King rides him so well. 9. Verry Elleegant comes back from a Melbourne Cup preparation. Does that change anything first up over 1400m? Is always vulnerable over the shorter trips early in her campaign but perhaps even more so now. Never discount a champion though. Hugh Bowman riding 8. Maximal is a vote of confidence. Will be fascinating to see where the classy import fits in. 11. Icebath improves as she gets into her campaign while 13. She’s Ideel sprints well fresh.

How To Play It: Think It Over WIN

7. It’s Me is a mare than can run frighteningly quick closing splits. We’ve seen that through her short career to date. We haven’t seen her at the races since overcoming trouble to win the 2020 Kosciuszko as the $2 favourite, and that was just her fourth ever start. She rose through the ranks rapidly, graduating from a Scone maiden before sizzling home in a couple of Highway Handicaps. The obvious query is the 67 weeks between runs having been sidelined with a tendon injury but trainer Brett Cavanough would have been carefully plotting her return for months now and if he’s ready to run her, she’ll be ready to rock and roll. She might be a freak this mare. Her times say as much. The speed should be genuine enough up front for her to unleash her customary sprint.

Dangers: 4. Snapdancer has the advantage of being up and running, as well as a very kind map. Have got her box seating with James McDonald riding. The five-year-old was a comfortable winner at the Gold Coast last start. It’s all ahead of 14. Promise Of Success this campaign. She may find the 1200m a touch sharp but she showed last campaign that she’s a mare capable of transitioning into Group company. 6. Wandabaa really comes into this race if the track is wet. A repeat of her run behind Lost And Running in The Hunter last preparation shakes the life out of this. Like the progression 5. Mirra Vision made over the spring but the barrier looks awkward here while 2. Electric Girl sets up to run well.

How To Play It: It’s Me WIN

The 1300m distance is a real sweet spot for 1. True Detective. Anything further than that just stretches him. The Chris Waller-trained five-year-old is 7:3-2-1 over 1300m. He outbobbed Tycoonist first up this preparation, with 2. Bring The Ransom in third, before running his typical honest race in the Listed Carrington Stakes. He didn’t attack the line like he was entitled to when he saw daylight but that was at the end of 1400m. He sets up very nicely back slightly in trip, back to BM88 company and from a barrier that should see him park up in the first four. A wet track wouldn’t hurt his claims either as it just takes away the sprint from his rivals. There’s a lot in his favour here and his best sees him in the finish yet again at each way odds.

Dangers: 5. Poetic Charmer was a touch plain last start at the Gold Coast but liked his two runs prior to that in Sydney, hitting the line powerfully behind Tycoonist first up before never getting a crack at his rivals at Canterbury behind Prime Candidate. 9. She’s All Class is hard in the market off a pretty ordinary spring. She could very well bounce back but need to see her do it first.

How To Play It: True Detective EACH WAY

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's meeting at Royal Randwick