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By Brad Gray

9. Zoubaby comes out of two black type races over the Melbourne carnival. They were three-year-old fillies races but she measured up. Has been freshened five weeks since and looked sharp in a tickover trial at Canterbury where she cruised home into second. There isn’t much of her size-wise but she is still improving with just seven starts to her name. The daughter of Zoustar also has tractability. The Richard and Will Freedman-trained sprinter has won from outside of the leader. The same can’t be said for a number of her key rivals. One of those being Smashing Time. Tommy Berry elects to stay with Zoubaby over Smashing Time who he has ridden in four of his past five starts. There has to be something read into that.

Dangers: 14. Sumo Star’s strike rate of two wins from 26 starts doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence but he does come into this a last start winner. He ran out a dominant winner at Hawkesbury. That should provide a shot of confidence. The five-year-old has raced in Midway company eight times and placed in four of them. He races on speed and drops to 51.5kg. Good roughie. 7. Smashing Time looks to be the best horse here, but he is seven weeks between runs and was a touch disappointing in the Brian Crowley having jumped $3.10. He raced in patches. Draws wide and might want 1400m. 4. Emmadella ended last campaign in career best form, just wary that it coincided with a run of heavy tracks. Liked the trial of 3. High Blue Sea. He could be back on track.

How To Play It: Zoubaby WIN

1. Duke Of Bronte only has to repeat what he did over this track and trip first up to again. It’s a near identical race. The speedster wasn’t able to replicate that victory in BM78 grade at Kembla Grange second up having settled outside of the leader. He didn’t have any excuses given the slow early tempo. Perhaps he went too slow in front? Pisanello closed too well late as Duke Of Bronte boxed on to finish midfield. Even Tai Lung went past him late. Respect how firm he was in betting. Tim Clark has ridden Duke Of Bronte in both runs back this time in so he’ll have a handle on how best to use the four-year-old’s speed. He begins quickly so offsetting the draw shouldn’t be an obstacle and the set weights conditions sees him so well weighted.

Dangers: 2. Remember Jack adds some intrigue. He has drawn to give away a big head start to Duke Of Bronte but he can charge home. He has the talent but also a few quirks. Get the impression that the best is still in front of the five-year-old. Has his first run for Mark Milton on Saturday. Has trialled well at Scone. 5. Caribbean King was no match for Duke Of Bronte five weeks ago and meets him 2kg worse off under the set weights conditions. Can settle midfield and should get his chance. 6. Tai Lung doesn’t win often but is rarely far away in this company. 3. Nipotino would appreciate a truly run 1000m so he can rattle off his customary finish. He too maps to be out the back though.

How To Play It: Duke Of Bronte WIN

Convinced that 6. Allapercanto is flying. Her form in the guide mightn’t suggest as much but she’s had excuses for that in two runs back. First up over 1300m she ran as well as she could given the lack of pressure and the trip. She was beaten less than a length. Not much went right for her out to 1400m at Kembla Grange last start. She was shuffled back in the run, spat out the back before running home better than anything. The winner I’mintowin smashed the clock from in front and has since won again. The runner up Midnight Opal has also won since while Blazing Harry in fourth has since run well. The Hawkes-trained mare went to a new level at the backend of last campaign and she gets her chance to show that she has come on again third up out to the mile. Looks a bet at the price.

Dangers: 4. Redbreast is the horse to beat. The market tells you that. No knock on her talent and she maps to own the race in front. Given how she looked set to drop out at the 300m mark first up over 1400m, yet rallied again late, suggests she wants the mile now. Tim Clark has ridden her in all five of her starts. May see a good track for the first time in her career on Saturday. 1. Chica Mojito has finished second in four of her five runs this preparation. Continues to race well. Comes back in grade slightly having split Estadio Mestalla and Tavi Time three weeks ago. 3. Pier Pressure scored a confidence-boosting win at Scone as a $1.22 favourite before proving just as dominant at Canterbury. May have been flattered by wet tracks. 2. Dazzle Legend next best.

How To Play It: Allapercanto WIN

4. Dream Hour on top in the most open race of the meeting. The five-year-old hasn’t been suited in runs back. First up was behind Briasa and Inhibitions. That pair were too sharp over 1300m, particularly in a sprint home. He then found himself at the tail of the field at Newcastle last start out to 1300m. He had to duck and weave through the pack late, making some late inroads to be beaten over five lengths. They went even slower there with the eventual winner Uzziah dictating throughout. The 1400m looks perfect now third up and he finds Nash Rawiller. There doesn’t look to be a stack of pressure on paper again but a capacity field should generate enough for him to get his chance. Draws to settle closer too.

Dangers: The market has identified 5. Bunker Hut as a rightful favourite given how well he returned at Kembla Grange. He dashed out of the pack like the winner but The Novelist had other ideas. Bunker Hut looked to peak on his run late. There were gaps back through the field. The winner has since run well again, as has the third horse Iron Man. 13. Victory Lane also impressed at that same Kembla meeting. He was playing at home but a third to I’mintowin and Midnight Opal reads well now. A repeat of that and he’s likely in the money here too. 1. Perfect Thought beat home Dream Hour last start.

How To Play It: Dream Hour WIN

12. Cantiamo improved sharply from her first trial to her second. The Kris Lees-trained filly showed good natural speed in a recent Newcastle trial before running through the line to win her heat. The time was good for the morning, ranking the third quickest of the eight 800m hitouts. Perhaps the best pointer to the two-year-olds chances is the rivals she beat. In second was Hidden Motive, fourth in the Breeders Plate on debut, and in third was her stablemate Gobi Desert, the winner of the Max Lees Classic. Cantiamo, sired by Too Darn Hot and a half sister to three-time winner Valiancy, also maps to get the right run from the draw. Kerrin McEvoy should have options from the barrier if she musters as quickly as she did in her trials.

Dangers: 6. Within The Law wasn’t as impressive on the clock as it was to the eye when winning at Flemington on debut but she now has the benefit of race experience. Granted, she was a two-year-old on debut but her winning last 200m split ranked the 19th quickest across the meeting. Her trial since was solid. 14. Sequista stepped out in that same trial as Within The Law. The D’argento filly stepped well to lead from the inside gate and did it nicely on the line. Tackles this with just one official trial under her belt. 1. Telling can improve off his debut over 900m. Looks a solid race, despite being beaten five lengths. The runner up Offenbach didn’t get the clearest of runs subsequently in Wednesday’s Wyong feature. 7. Gobi Desert did everything right in the Max Lees but the barrier looks problematic on Saturday.

How To Play It: Cantiamo WIN

3. Tavi Time was shuffled back at a critical point in the race last start at Kembla Grange. It proved costly. He was beaten a length but was closing hard late in track record time. The track was lightning fast that meeting so there was merit in him getting as close as he did at the finish. The market was also very soft on his chances late. The son of Tavistock strikes this fifth up and creeps out in trip to 1800m. He ran second at his only previous try beyond the mile, earlier in his career. The timing looks right to try again. He hasn’t been able to recapture his best form from last campaign this time back but he doesn’t have to do much more than hold his form to get home in this. Should be able to settle closer.

Dangers: Want to forgive the beaten margin of 1. King Of The Castle in the Festival Stakes. Nash Rawiller jumps back on. He won on him three starts ago, and that was with 62.5kg. 4. Café Millenium was doing his best work through the line behind Tavi Time three weeks ago. That ties in here. Hard to catch. Flying Queenslander 2. Kerchak just has to cope with 2000m on a heavy track back to the mile on dry. 14. Queen Of Dragons is a knockout chance.

How To Play It: Tavi Time WIN

12. Alalcance has hit the ground running in Australia and profiles to have new peaks to come. The lightly-raced five-year-old has only had six starts. She won impressively in her first run for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott. It was at the midweeks but she proved levels above those, relishing the test of stamina to gap her rivals. Two months later she reappeared at Kembla Grange where she ran into an equally progressive stayer in Gilded Water. He wore her down late but there was only half a length in it on the line. Despite the blinkers coming off in a recent tickover trial, she went well given how she how has trialled without the shades on in the past. Alalcance steps into Listed company but that sees her drop to 53kg. The biggest positive looks to be getting out to 2400m.

Dangers: 3. Sea King ran in the Melbourne Cup last start. He settled out the back from barrier 1 after a slow getaway and it was game over from there. He never got into the race. That was on the back of a dominant Bendigo Cup win where Declan Bates allowed the import to truck his way to the front. That should see the gelding well suited to Nash Rawiller. This will be Sea King’s first run for Matt Dunn. Expecting significant improvement from 2. Naval College who failed to handle the heavy track at Sandown last start when a $6 chance. He should have won the Beauford the start prior when luckless. The market has been quick to dismiss his chances. Maps perfectly. Like the booking of Jason Collett. The challenge for 5. Floating is repeating last start’s effort out to 2400m and on a dry track.

How To Play It: Alalcance WIN

Nash Rawiller stays on 1. Private Eye. That’s significant after what the pair achieved in the Festival Stakes two weeks ago. A clean getaway saw the seven-year-old land outside of the leader. That early initiative woke him up and proved the winning move. Especially with the speed coming out of the race in the middle stages. It was a welcome return to form from Private Eye, who the start prior in The Hunter, struggled to keep in touch in the middle stages. Trainer Joe Pride had been mixing up his training prior. It worked. Can’t see any reason why he won’t hold that form now. He is a proven weight carrier, can slide forward from the draw again and is an Epsom winner over the Randwick mile. There is no denying that this is harder than last start but he put three lengths on them and is a proven top liner.

Dangers: 2. Gringotts was backed as if his number was already in the frame in The Gong three weeks ago. It may as well have been. The race was over after they’d gone 400m. Tommy Berry showed early initiative to run the race as he pleased from in front, beating 13. Suparazi. He did, however, prove equally as effective off a fast tempo in the Big Dance the start prior. Maps well. Hard to knock, other than the opening price, given the form he finds himself in. 6. New Energy broke a long run of outs, that dated back to September 2021 on debut in Ireland, to finally win again in Melbourne. It was a better win than the margin suggests and he proved competitive in Group One WFA company in two runs prior. Might go on with it now. Has the talent. 3. Port Lockroy franked the Golden Eagle form to win the Railway last start.

How To Play It: Private Eye WIN

5. Hedged was found out over 1000m in the Warra. The gamble going into that first up target was whether he was going to find it a touch too sharp nowadays. He lacked the acceleration of Headwall. Despite that, he kept finding the line to be beaten less than a length. That was despite never really looking like the winner. He ran out of room late too and should have finished closer. That was as a well backed $3 favourite. The four-year-old ended last campaign in terrific form, chasing home Ostraka at Eagle Farm before leading all of the way at Ipswich out to 1350m. There isn’t a lot of pressure on paper here so barrier 1 gives Chad Schofield options. Typically steer clear of horses jumping from 1000m to 1200m but inclined to make an exception with Hedged given the set up.

Dangers: That lack of speed could prove problematic for backmarker 9. Infancy. The barrier ensures she’ll be last upon settling. The last time she found herself in a truly run race, she won. That was six starts ago now. She found the line in two Melbourne runs most recently while her terrific effort over this track and trip in October, where Moravia ran second, ties in neatly here. 4. Contemporary faces a similar obstacle to Infancy given where he too has drawn. He didn’t get the chance to fully let down through the line in the Starlight Stakes first up. He looks to be the one to follow from that race out to 1200m and given how he ended last campaign. 6. Moravia has been freshened since wanting to lay in late in the Choisir behind 8. Jedibeel. His best is good enough.

How To Play It: Hedged WIN

3. Eye Of The Fire is an improving sprinter chasing three straight this time back. He was kept busy in his first campaign but he was a work in progress so training duo Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald were ironing out his kinks. The making of him has perhaps been riding him off speed. Early on he was a keen going leader. He smashed the clock, and his nine rivals, on debut to win a Newcastle maiden, but his manners let him down a number of times thereafter. Ridden with cover at the backed of last preparation has paid dividends ahead of his tenth career start. He beat an odds on favourite in Kerguelen first up before chasing down Flying Destiny and Iron Man second up on a soft track. Back on top of the ground out to 1200m, with Jason Collett sticking can see him win again.

Dangers: 8. Stromboli had no excuses last start but that race has produced four subsequent winners with Fire Star winning again while Midnight Opal, Romeo’s Choice and Sir Ravanelli (who ran last) join that list. Strombol maps to get the same soft run and this isn’t any harder. Looks the best at longer odds. 18. Left Field is one dimensional which makes her hard to catch but she’ll win another race shortly. She is a sectional star most time she runs. Just needs a few things to fall into place. Her run was superior to that of 17. Wooloowin last start. 11. Silvanito ended last campaign with a frustrating run of four seconds but those performances all fit in here. 9. Jewellery is a player but looks well found 13. Disneck can improve.

How To Play It: Eye Of The Fire WIN

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday’s Randwick meeting