3 minute read
There are four meetings set to take place on Monday, including at Seymour, where a heavy 8 track is expected.
Race 6 Seymour
Zuetoro @ 3.60
Race 7 Wagga
Hold @ 5.00
Race 5 Gunnedah
Sunday Bell @ 6.50
Zuetoro to shine at Seymour
The sixth race on the Seymour card is a 1000m Benchmark 58 handicap, with the experienced Juice Box expected to feature prominently in the betting.
The five-year-old registered a victory in a 1012m Benchmark 58 handicap at Sale in May and she followed that up with three consecutive sixth place finishes.
Two of those efforts came at Sale and she showed that her next win might not be far away when one-and-a-half-lengths third at Sale earlier this month.
The daughter of Kuroshio raced on a heavy 9 track when contesting an 1106m Benchmark 64 handicap that day and she gets a drop in grade for this contest.
However, apprentice Jordyn Weatherley will have to negotiate a wide alley on a mare who likes to race prominently and, with that in mind, youngster ZUETORO is preferred.
The three-year-old made the perfect start to his career when delivering a narrow margin victory in a 975m maiden at Swan Hill last month.
Connections switched the gelding to the synthetic track at Pakenham for his next start, finishing a length fourth in a 1000m Benchmark 64 handicap that day.
The form of that contest is working out well with the second and eighth home both delivering victories since then.
While the 3.60 pick is unproven on wet tracks, he remains open to improvement on just his third career start, and he drops in grade on his return to turf.
An inside barrier is a positive for the Mick Pearce & Michael Kent Jr-trained gelding and he is taken to return to winning ways.
Hold on for Wagga victory
The penultimate race at Wagga is a 1000m Benchmark 58 handicap set to take place on a heavy 9 surface.
Sheila is expected to have her supporters, having placed third in two of her last three starts.
Those starts include a third when beaten just under three-and-a-half-lengths in a 1000m Benchmark 66 handicap at Corowa at the start of this month.
Trained by Andrew Dale, the five-year-old has performed well at this track when runner-up in a similar race to this over track and trip in March.
However, HOLD is the pick on this occasion, having placed second in two of her three starts since winning at Canberra in April.
That Canberra success came when racing over 1000mm in a Class 1 handicap held on a soft 6 surface.
The three-year-old is proven in testing conditions, having finished third in a six runner 1000m Class 1 handicap on a heavy 10 track at Canberra back in December.
While barrier nine isn't ideal here, the 5.00 filly arrives here in good form having lost out by just half-a-length in a 1000m Benchmark 58 handicap at Goulburn on 21st June.
Apprentice Rebecca Bronett Prag, on board at Goulburn is again set to ride with the pair looking capable of recording their first win together.
Bell to salute at Gunnedah
The fifth race of the day at Gunnedah is a Benchmark 58 handicap, with SUNDAY BELL the selection to score on a heavy 5 surface.
The four-year-old returned from a spell with a good fourth when beaten less than one-and-a-half-lengths in a 1000m Class 2 handicap at Tamworth in May.
The 6.50 selection jumped at $31 that day and registered a second up success when getting home by a narrow margin in a 900m Class 1 handicap at Scone the following month.
Noel Boland's gelding arrives here on the back of a close second in a similar race to this over track and trip and looks up to recording the third win of his career.