Everything you need to find the winner in the $150,000 Wyong Provincial Championship Qualifier including tips, TAB markets, stewards comments, handicapper insights and trainer quotes.
KEY RUNNERS |
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Better Not Blue ($4.40) The five-year-old gelding resumes in the Wyong heat and will only have the one chance to qualify as this will be his 21st race start. The son of Churchill Downs gets in well at the weights under the set weight conditions. The Michelle Ritchie-trained Class 4 galloper has been here before; qualifying for last year's provincial championships final, also through the Wyong heat, only to be held to a luckless 7th beaten less than 3.5 lengths.
Bao Zheng ($26) Trained by leading provincial trainer Kim Waugh, this lightly raced four-year-old gelding is what the the Provincial Championship series is all about; the up and coming provincial horse. Trained on course at the Wyong track, the son of Group One winner Star Witness was defeated in a recent start by Positive Problems who then went on to win in town. Winning second-up last preparation, Bao Zheng has had some excuses over his short career encountering some rain-affected tracks however it’s safe to say he is improving with every run and will be ready to go here at big odds.
Beretta ($9.50) One of the four Kris Lees trained runners is the ever-consistent Beretta. The five-year-old doesn’t run a bad race and seems like the type of horse that just thrives in the race day environment. The resuming son of Bernardini is partnered by Blake Shinn. Beretta's first-up record includes a handy Newcastle win as a three-year-old. To top that off, Beretta has won twice at the distance of 1350m and placed on a further four occasions.
Kris Lees: “Beretta is resuming and no doubt is looking for a bit further. But he is certainly capable and not without a chance."
HANDICAPPER INSIGHT |
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Better Not Blue is the horse most benefited by the set weight conditions. If it had been a handicap he’d be allotted 4.5kgs more than the next highest rated horse Noble Joey and instead carries 1.5kgs less. Going off true weights he’d be 19.5kgs heavier than the lowest rated horse in the race Libertine Miss but carries 3.5kgs more here. Noble Joey does get in well too however, he'll carry saddlecloth 1 being the highest rated of the 59kg class 5 male horses but would have to give All But Gone 4kgs in a handicap, Hammond Lane 5.5kgs and Epic Dan 8.5kgs. Here they’re all 59kgs.
Horses come to these provincial championship races from varying form lines, their weight here is all about how many races they’ve won and not a true indication of the strength of the races they’ve come from.
STEWARDS |
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TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS |
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View all the form, replays and fields for Wyong's Provincial Championships Qualifier