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By Brad Gray

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

The rail is in the True and the form has been done for a good track.

17. Battleground looks exceptionally well placed in Class 2 Highway Handicap company. He ran second at Listed level at just his second ever start, splitting Hightail and Splintex. In his second preparation he won his Kembla maiden by the length of the straight, but his form fell away thereafter. That saw him change stables to Matt Dale. He ran third at his first start for his new yard in a deep Class 1 before spending a year on the sidelines. He recently resumed at Randwick running second to Sixgun in a BM72 over 1000m. Has 62kg on his back but Dale has resisted the urge to claim, instead engaging leading hoop James McDonald. Draws perfectly out to 1100m second up. Should prove a touch too classy.

Dangers: 3. Surooj was seen in a 1400m Highway back in May and whacked away to run sixth but she comes off a big win at Scone four weeks ago. It was so dominant and sharp on the clock that she warrants a lot of respect in this. 1. Baby Wong comes off a third to Sky Command at Randwick six weeks ago with the winner subsequently starting $5.50 in the Rosebud. He failed there but pulled up lame. Baby Wong mixed it with some of the best two-year-olds early in his career and despite facing older horses here, this is one of the easiest races he has ever contested. 11. Bayika can mix her form but she’s a knockout if it all falls into place.

How to play it: Battleground WIN ($2.80 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: ODDS

"He looks exceptionally well placed in Class 2 company."

📹BEST BET: @BradJGray is confident punters can make a winning start at @royalrandwick on Saturday @tabcomau pic.twitter.com/Fx2H190YzN

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) August 20, 2021

2. Shuffle Up relished getting out to 2400m last start, sweeping past 9. Terwilliker on the Kensington track to stop the clock in track record time. That was back in late July with Richard and Michael Freedman electing to freshen up the six-year-old thereafter. He has had a tickover trial since. It’s been a slowly, slowly approach from the stable this campaign having resumed off an injury-enforced 77 week break but as he has built his fitness base and crept out in trip, he worked his way back into the winners’ stall rediscovering the form that saw him Group placed as a three-year-old. Jumped from 1800 to 2400m last start too. Only has to hold his form to give this a shake with his Terwilliker form tying in neatly to the obvious Harpo Marx form lines.

Dangers: 7. Red Santa is the ‘new blood’ in the race having popped back down to Melbourne for a win and a second since we saw him run third behind Wicklow and Crystal Pegasus back in June on a heavy track at Rosehill. 3. Master Shuhood and 1. Spencer will be around the mark again as it’s that kind of race.

How to play it: Shuffle Up WIN ($3.80 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: SPLIT

Shuffle Up winning last start

4. Arctic Thunder stands out as the obvious in a typically open Midway Handicap. She can only run well as she only has to hold her form to be fighting out the finish again. The Gary Portelli-trained four-year-old just missed in a Midway two back over 1500m with Casino Mondial grabbing her on the line before dashing past her rivals on the Kensington track to score emphatically despite lumping 59kg. That was against her own sex but she’s at the top of her game at the moment, draws well to park a touch closer than we’ve seen at her last two outings and Tommy Berry sticks. It’s hard to find many negatives. A deserving favourite in a race with plenty of hopes.

Dangers: The recent finishing positions of 16. Enduring Night don’t do her justice. She savaged the line two back over 1400m in a race with more depth than this before being beaten 2.6L by Matowatakpe, Invinciano and Love Planet in BM78 company a fortnight ago. This is the perfect race for her but the barrier hurts! 1. Monegal’s form has fallen away after her first up runs lately but she’s back in grade and has won four from 10 over the mile. 3. Foxborough was never in the race first up from the back over 1300m. Her run was better than it reads on paper as she had to check off heels in the straight.

How to play it: Arctic Thunder WIN ($4 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: EVENS

Arctic Thunder winning last start

The market has completely missed 13. La Grisa. She flies fresh and loves firm tracks. The lack of speed in the race is a worry and would’ve preferred a touch kinder draw but that’s why we’re getting the price we are. On the back of a similar two month freshen last preparation she clocked some of the fastest closing splits across the entire Rosehill meeting behind Mubariz when fourth. She was then deceptively good again in an unsuitably run BM94 before starting $7 in a Listed race at Eagle Farm. She didn’t fire a shot there with John O’Shea electing to back off. Here she is eight weeks later on the back of a tickover trial in BM78 company. Convinced she’ll run much better than the early market suggests.

Dangers: The case for 11. Loveplanet is that he looks the only leader so could control this race from the front. He very well could, but he sat outside of a moderate tempo last start and failed to quicken with 4. Re Edit on his heels. The Waller/McDonald combination sees him very well found but he looks the obvious. 7. Wairere Falls comes off a career best but draws awkwardly. Suprised he isn't a touch shorter, however, given the merit of his last start win on the clock. Expect the untapped 1. Pesto to be strong late again. Curious to see how the market treats him late.

How to play it: La Grisa EACH WAY ($41 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: ODDS

‘James McDonald on’. It’s fast becoming the most significant gear change in Sydney racing and 8. More Prophets looks to be one of the latest beneficiaries. The five-year-old was confidently backed first up at Randwick despite only having the one 735m trial under her belt, but she was chopped out for a run at the 300m mark having been shuffled back in the run at the worst possible time. It was a largely inconclusive sixth but there was a bit to like about how she picked herself up again late to clock a last 200m just outside the quickest in the race. That was off a slow tempo too. This BM78, albeit against the boys, looks set to be much more genuinely run. She is becoming costly to punters but she’s worth one more chance in this grade.

Dangers: 12. Geist produced good run after good run for very little reward last preparation. Bad barriers and bad luck mixed in with her get-back racing style proved costly. Her run in G3 PJ Bell was testament to how well she was going. Will just need the seas to part at the right time from the low draw. 13. Nags To Riches rattled home from an impossible spot to win first up. She is a Listed placegetter but just has to stretch her brilliance to 1200m now. Forgive 4. Smart Image last start as he pulled up with cardiac arrhythmia. He was very heavily backed that day too.

How to play it: More Prophets WIN ($4 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: EVENS

More Prophets had no luck first up

1. Four Moves Ahead was the benchmark two-year-old filly in Sydney last season running fourths in the Golden Slipper and Sires Produce. There was more so much merit in her Sweet Embrace win than meets the eye too, given she was six weeks between runs off a setback and absorbed the early pressure of a fast run race, yet still found at the finish. So what she did at two was on the back of an interrupted preparation. She is yet to race on a good track but her recent trial was on top of the ground and it was an absolute beauty in Group class company.

Dangers: 12. Trifaccia was rolled at odds on first up but it’s a little premature to drop her completely off that, especially at the odds on offer here. How many 'last chances' do we give her? The price dictates that it's one more. Expect her to be ridden cold, which has seen her produce her best finishes. Her conqueror 11. Lovemetender the best roughie. She'll roll forward from the wide barrier and with the run under her belt, could prove harder to run down than the early betting suggests. 4. Mallory was a couple of lengths off the better two-year-old fillies last campaign but she has trialled up well.

How to play it: Four Moves Ahead WIN ($2 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: ODDS

Four Moves Ahead trialling at Randwick

This is a kick off point for many of these so 10. Embracer gets the chance to catch them on the hop. If he is ever going to beat horses of this class it’s with this set up. The free-running gelding needs dry tracks. He is 8:4-3-0 on good tracks. At his last three runs on rain affected surfaces he has beaten just four runners home. He is a different horse on top of the ground. We saw that first up last preparation, his first run as a gelding, where he blew his rivals away at Hawkesbury. Would be keener again on this six-year-old’s chances over 1100m so his followers will be holding their breath half way down the straight but with 53.5kg on his back and Tim Clark doing the steering, he’ll look the winner at some stage.

Dangers: 1. Splintex is yet to win first up but that’s deceptive. His latest two fresh runs were behind Gytrash and Nature Strip and then Eduardo and Nature Strip. He held his own too. Love the way he trialled behind Embracer and the soft draw should see him play stalker. Big weight but big chance. 8. Private Eye is the untapped x factor and although 1200m is short of his best, his sharp recent trial was very encouraging. 5. Chat has returned better than ever and he strikes this race third up. If you’re making a case for Chat, 11. Hightail has to be in the conversation too. His 32.43s last 600m was the quickest in the G2 Missile and he’s best suited by this weight scale.

How to play it: Embracer EACH WAY ($7 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: ODDS

Embracer and Splintex at the trials recently

It’s hard to believe that 3. Cascadian is about to start his fifth Australian campaign. It’s been a slow burn for his supporters as he steadily improved each preparation with his recent autumn his best yet. He won the G1 Doncaster Mile before running a luckless third in the G1 All Aged Stakes. That was of course over the Randwick 1400m. His last four runs in Group One company have been top shelf and he is a genuine WFA horse now. His one soft trial at Hawkesbury was largely inconclusive but he trucked Hugh Bowman through the line and it’s Bowman who sticks on race day. His peak runs tend to come later in his preparation but he’s one of the few genuine 1400-mile style of horses here that loves dry tracks.

Dangers: 2. Think It Over has made giant leaps in his last two preparations. This time last year he resumed in a BM88. He can no longer be underestimated having won the G1 George Ryder Stakes back in March. Has trialled well since and he maps to get the run of the race. 12. Verry Elleegant looked buried in this race last year but she simply refused to lose. That was on a soft track and at $7.50. Her rating tells you she’s the best horse in the race but a dry track over 1400m sees her the most vulnerable she’ll be all spring. Can 1. Kolding bounce back from a poor showing in the Missile Stakes? Big watch on 11. Mo’unga.

How to play it: Cascadian EACH WAY ($8 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: SPLIT

Cascadian and Kolding in the All Aged Stakes

Everything has fallen into place for 3. Tailleur to run up to her best. The mare has only missed a top two finish in one of her nine starts and that was when eighth in the Group One Galaxy where she started $4.20. First up she is 3:2-1-0. Her 1100m record is 5:3-1-0. Her Randwick record is 3:2-1-0. Throw into the mix the perfect barrier to stalk the speed. Can’t find too many negatives about the James Cummings-trained five-year-old lining up against her own sex. Hasn’t had a public trial ahead of her return but Godolphin have been conducting their own jumpouts so expect that she has done plenty of work to ready her for this. Given the market respect she has had in the past, suspect she’ll jump favourite.

Dangers: 4. Seasons is an underrated mare. Her Birthday Card win last preparation reads well for this. Should have won this race 12 months ago when bailed up for a run and that was as a $9 chance. 8. Written Beauty won five on the trot in the manner of a horse destined for Group One sprints but she comes off two poor runs. Did start $3.10 when sixth behind Eduardo and Nature Strip only back in March. She always trials well. 2. Forbidden Love won the G1 Surround in brilliant fashion last campaign. Draws off the track but could get out to a crazy price. 11. Fituese, 7. Great News and 10. Villami at least rate mentions. Deep race.

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

Bob Charley AO Stakes winner Adelong took out the second jump out at @hawkesburyrc on Monday, leading all the way from @godolphin trio Emanate (blue cap), Tailleur (red cap) and Geist (white cap). @tabcomau @BWiddupRacing @7horseracing pic.twitter.com/TuoNSmc8bX

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) August 9, 2021

12. Atishu is a mare still with it all in front of her. The former Kiwi-trained four-year-old has won four on the bounce and has trialled like a jet ahead of her resumption, her first run for Chris Waller. There’s talk of the owners sending her across the ditch to target the Epsom and Golden Eagle if she lives up to the raps. Will she still be a run short? Possibly, but can only see her running well. Watching her New Zealand replays she can be a touch tardy at the start and doesn’t hit top gear straight away when asked to quicken so Kerrin McEvoy will need to execute perfectly for her to win first up but everything points to her having a role to play over the spring carnival. The early market support is there so monitor the last 10 minutes of betting now.

Dangers: The market has been very quick to dump 11. Cisco Bay. He started $5 in a Listed race last start. Hasn’t been able to reproduce his exceptional first up win in two subsequent runs but has been freshen up since and tackles the Randwick 1400m again. 8. Bigboyroy draws well and can only improve second up. 6. Matowatakpe produced a big close last start to overcome a slow tempo up front. A repeat of that sees him in the finish again. 2. New Arrangement is close to another win while 17. Love Tap and 5. Academy can’t be dismissed.

How to play it: Atishu WIN ($5 TAB Fixed Odds) Odds & Evens: SPLIT

Atishu winning a recent Rosehill trial

All the fields, form and replays for Randwick on Saturday