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By Brad Gray

Tips and race by race preview by Brad Gray for Randwick on Saturday.

The rail is out 7m and the form has been done for a Good track.

6. Toro Toro has won three in a row for Scone-based trainer Stephen Jones with each win better than the next. The three-year-old comfortably held off the heavily backed Badia at Gosford last start, despite the Godolphin filly winning a midweeker at Warwick Farm the start prior. The gelding did it the hard way too, easing out of a speed battle before being flushed out four wide but he picked himself up to still win eased down. James McDonald does the steering here and shouldn’t have too much trouble sliding forward to settle in the first four in running. Prior to that Toro Toro put his rivals away on his home track on two occasions, the first of those beating Free Rider, a gelding that hasn’t been beaten in two subsequent outings.

Dangers: 10. Hellenism missed the Country Championships series but fronting up here first up over 1200m she looks well placed to resume where she left off. The lightly-raced four-year-old, with three wins from her five starts, possesses a big finish as we saw at Randwick 10 weeks ago. Punters Intelligence shows her last 600m of 33.92s was four lengths quicker than the next best. 8. Purton was brave first up running second at Tamworth on a Heavy 10 and beat Soldier Of Love at Orange this time last year. 7. Bonanova’s Dream will improve sharply on what she did first up at Doomben and gets the blinkers on for the first time. 1. Luna Mia’s can’t be discounted on class while 5. Jailbreak is flying for Kody Nestor.

How to play it: How to play it: Toro Toro WIN ($4.80 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: EVENS

Toro Toro winning at Gosford last start

Would’ve been very bullish about the chances of 6. Outrageous had he drawn a softer gate. However, there is enough of an edge in the early price to gamble that Tommy Berry can slot the four-year-old in somewhere forward of midfield. Outrageous hasn’t had an official trial but he didn’t prior to kicking off last preparation either when a brave third to Signore Fox and Reelem In Ruby despite being posted four deep the trip. This is the same grade of race and certainly no harder. The son of All Too Hard then put a field away at Rosehill while he should have won his next start too, when a luckless fifth at Newcastle. Forget his last start failure when a $2.15 favourite as he bled and incurred a three month ban from racing.

Dangers: 3. Taniko is a mare with a devastating turn of foot. Her form can be inconsistent but the 1200m at Randwick on a dry track is a good set up for her. Nothing here will match her late if she gets the breaks. 10. Miss Invincible proved she could get 1200m at the backend of last preparation, in which she won three of her five starts. The question is whether she can do it first up having to absorb pressure as there looks to be good speed engaged. Has trialled very nicely. Concede chances to 12. Groundswell, 13. Catch Me and 8. Trumbull, with the latter needing to bounce back from last start.

How to play it: Outrageous EACH WAY ($8.50 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: SPLIT

Outrageous first up last preparation

2. Rubisaki is chasing six straight in what has been a remarkable preparation. The scary part is, she keeps improving every time she steps out. The challenge for the Patrick Payne-trained filly here is to transfer her recent wet track form onto a firmer surface. However, it’s safe to say there will still be some juice in the Randwick track given how heavy it was last Saturday and there is nothing in her form to suggest she won’t cope. In her one run on a Good track she won at Moonee Valley, albeit a StrathAyr surface. Still, to back anything to beat her you are banking on her training off, especially under the conditions of this race. That appears unlikely although bookmakers are not letting her under their guard this start.

Dangers: 8. Rocha Clock has won three from four and looks a smart youngster. She is far from the finished product either. Tom Marquand has had the benefit or riding her in both trials. She was a touch keen so imagine Plan A will be to let her find her feet from the wide draw and hit the line. 6. Subpoenaed went straight past 4. Akari in the Kembla Grange Classic before running poorly in the Vinery. If she can produce the same turn of foot that saw he run second to Positive Peace second up over this trip, she’ll be in the finish. On Akari, she can close the 2.3L margin on Rubisaki out to a more suitable 1400m. 5. Mirra Vision is an honest filly with the scope to keep improving.

How to play it: Rubisaki WIN ($1.65 TAB Fixed Odds) and 2,8 QUINELLA Odds & Evens: EVENS

Rubisaki winning at Randwick last start

It’s been a mixed bag for 2. Pancho this preparation but this race sets up for him to run up to his best. The son of Dissident loomed to win the Hobartville first up having box seated but his condition gave out late. Second up was a pen job after getting back in a slowly run Randwick Guineas (and being checked at the 600m) before a pass mark in the Rosehill Guineas. A fourth up winner last preparation, when Hugh Bowman jumped on, as he does here, that might have been the run he needed to bring him to peak fitness. Has won on a heavy track but he fell in as a two-year-old at Sandown. His form on top of the ground is superior. Maps beautifully and will be able to let down like we know he can on a firmer track.

Dangers: 1. Quick Thinker holds the key to the race being a whopping 19 rating points above the second highest rated horse (Pancho). That’s 9.5kg. This is a set weights race so he is thrown in. Spare a thought for the 58 rater down the bottom! The question is, if you want to take even money about him back 400m and most significantly, on a dry track. The stable won this race last year with The Chose One (after he ran fourth in the Derby). Excited to see what 12. Kinane does in this company. Makes a giant leap from winning a provincial maiden at Wyong but the son of Reliable Man has it all in front of him. Suspect he is pretty smart and he’ll relish 2000m. James McDonald riding is a flag in itself. 3. Entente and 5. Bottega fought out the Carbine Club and both look suited out to 2000m.

How to play it: Pancho EACH WAY ($12 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: EVENS

Pancho winning a tickover trial

The Sires Produce Stakes has produced 22 of the past 25 Champagne Stakes winners and although it wasn’t a vintage edition of the Sires that trend looks set to continue this year. Swap the runs of 6. Ole Kirk and 1. King’s Legacy and there is probably very little between them at the finish. That’s not reflected in the market so lean the way of Ole Kirk at the odds. Ole Kirk had to sweat on a gap opening before a bump at the top of the straight unbalanced him, and he was a month between runs. The SP profile from the Sires can’t be ignored either with Ole Kirk sent around $6 while King’s Legacy jumped at $19. Ole Kirk, a relation to Black Caviar and All Too Hard, should relish the mile and he gets James McDonald in the saddle. Both of them will need to overcome what looks a moderate tempo on paper.

Dangers: The advantage King’s Legacy has over Ole Kirk is he maps to settle a couple of pairs closer in the run. Punters Intelligence also reveals that he had a sharper turn of foot in the Sires before there was nothing between the pair’s last 200m. A win here would give Hugh Bowman the two-year-old triple crown. 3. Aim has a lot of ground to make up from the Sires but he can turn his form around sharply back onto a firm surface. 7. Not An Option has an unconventional Champagne preparation jumping from 1100m in the Kindergarten straight to the mile but he does come out of the strongest rating race of anything in this field.

How to play it: Ole Kirk WIN ($4 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: SPLIT

King’s Legacy and Ole Kirk in the Sires

The task of 5. Shared Ambition hasn’t been made easy by the wide draw but he has the class, and jockey, to overcome it. James McDonald is the man tasked with getting the talented stayer home. The four-year-old is undefeated in four runs for Chris Waller at 1800m and further. Waller attempted to freshen him up for a crack at the Doncaster last start but he simply wasn’t sharp enough. There were no excuses for him having settled towards the rear in a fast run race with Nettoyer coming from last to win. Happy to be very forgiving of that effort though and instead go off his win two back in the Randwick City Stakes, where he was also partnered by J-Mac. He’d have won that race by even further if the tempo had been genuine up front.

Dangers: 2. Yulong Prince is flying this time back and this is in the most suitable race of his preparation here out to 2000m. Was perhaps a victim of drawing ‘too well’ in the Doncaster hitting the front at the 300m only to peak on his run and the swoopers swamping him. Has no choice but to be ridden quieter from the wide draw here, allowing him to savage the line like was saw first and second up. 7. Norway gets the blinkers on for the first time having run last in the G1 Ranvet. However, that race produced the QE quinella, Doncaster and Tancred winners while Danzdanzdance (second last) since ran third in the Queen Of The Turf. Imagine he rolls forward as per his overseas racing style.

How to play it: Shared Ambition WIN ($3.10 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: SPLIT

Shared Ambition winning over 2000m two starts ago

You don’t have to look beyond the TJ Smith Stakes, which as provided the past four winners of the All Aged, to find the cream in this race. Was surprised how well 9. Tofane ran there making a seamless transition from carrying no weight in the Galaxy to measuring up at weight-for-age behind Nature Strip. Her run in the TJ was every bit as good as the three at the top of the market. Punters Intelligence details that the four-year-old mare clocked the fastest last 200m (12.10), a length faster than the next quickest. While her last 600m was only bettered by 11. Bivouac. She has drawn beautifully in this to settle much closer and is bred to get the trip. If there is a sneaky sense of Deja vu with this mare it might be that Mike Moroney won this race in 2017 with Tivaci off a very similar lead in.

Dangers: Bivouac jumped awkwardly in the TJ and settled last. The three-year-old spent too many carrots from the 600-200m to get himself into the race before being unable to sustain that sprint. Stalks the leaders if all goes to plan at the gates this week and won the Golden Rose in his only previous try over 1400m. The dry track suits too. 1. Pierata won this race last year and is going just as well while 2. Santa Ana Lane gets out to 1400m for the first time since the Stradbroke. Not thrilled with barrier 1 for him though. Of the rest, a fresh 3. Dreamforce over 1400m on a dry track is a perfect set up for him to run up to his best, particularly if he is left alone in front as we saw in the George Ryder.

How to play it: Tofane EACH WAY ($10 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: ODDS

Look for Tofane in the TJ Smith

1. Trekking is back to defend the Hall Mark Stakes but a lot has happened for the five-year-old in those 12 months hence the 2kg more than last year. He knocked off a Group One, winning a Stradbroke and after winning the G2 Schillaci, proved himself worthy of an Everest run motoring into third. Although Trekking’s first up run in the TJ Smith mightn’t look like much on paper, he has needed the run in his last two preparations and he isn’t very fond of wet tracks. Thought the son of Street Cry more than held his own in the best form race any of his rivals bring to the table here. He’ll have to lump 60kg and give the majority of his rivals a start from the wide draw but Kerrin McEvoy is the right jockey for the job having ridden Trekking 14 times for seven wins.

Dangers: The only horse that looks capable of denying the three pronged Godolphin attack is 4. In Her Time. She also comes out of the TJ Smith and after travelling into the race encouragingly, her wheels spun in the wet ground. Her run in the G1 Galaxy first up had merit too. She isn’t getting any younger but don’t dismiss her. Trekking and Randwick specialist 5. Deprive met in the Redzel Stakes over the spring and there and there was little between them. Deprive has raced like he wants the 1200m now third up. Ahh 2. Kementari. He can only strip fitter from the Star Kingdom having been a year between runs but there a still a few trust issues that need to be ironed out with him and us punters. 9. Tyzone and 17. Signore Fox will run better than their odds suggest.

How to play it: Trekking WIN ($4.80 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: SPLIT

Trekking met Deprive in the Redzel last year

1. Chief Ironside wouldn’t be out of place in the G1 All Aged Stakes (he was nominated) yet here he is in a BM100. The British import won the G2 Crystal Mile at weight for age only five months ago beating the likes of Best Of Days and Dreamforce. The win was in quick time too. Prior to that, which was his first run in Australia, he had no luck in the G1 Toorak before pulling up lame after the G1 Cantala. He hated the wet track too. Kris Lees takes over from French trainer David Menuisier and the five-year-old looks ready to go fresh off two trials, winning the latest of those having peeled off the leader’s backs. Hoping this race plays out similarly from the kind draw. He has tactical speed and should lob into a spot that’ll give him every chance. Should get a genuinely run race which suits his building racing style.

Dangers: 7. Military Zone teased last spring. His record suggests he is more a second up horse but he has never resumed over 1400m. Has trialled well but always does. It’ll be interesting to see how 6. Cradle Mountain reacts to the blinkers for the first time. He is a control freak so the keen-going 11. Desert Lord will be critical to Cradle Mountain’s chances. On Desert Lord, he finally gets a dry track and can improve sharply. The market loves 15. Phaistos. He has started favourite in four of his past five runs but only won once. He’s a chance, not denying that, but he’s too well found (again). 3. Dr Drill and 10. Dealmaker are also hopes in a wide open race. Plus, did we see a glimpse of the 4. Lanciato of old in his latest trial?

How to play it: Chief Ironside EACH WAY ($11 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: ODDS

Chief Ironside winning a Gosford trial

All the fields, form and replays for Randwick on Saturday