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There are five race meetings set to take place on Thursday including at Bendigo where a ten race program is scheduled.
Race 8 Bendigo
Castle On High @ 9.00
Race 4 Ipswich
Underhand @ 2.00
Race 8 Bunbury
Choixway @ 4.20
Castle to record Bendigo success
The eighth race on the Bendigo card is a 1500m Restricted 64 handicap set to take place on a heavy 8 track.
Trainer Symon Wilde saddles Sasqualah here with the filly expected to have her supporters having placed on four of her five starts since breaking her maiden on debut.
That maiden victory saw her triumph by nearly four lengths in a 1200m maiden held on a soft 6 track at Warrnambool in May last year.
The daughter of Magnus has finished runner-up in two of her three starts this prep including when resuming at The Bool at the end of April.
The four-year-old arrives here on the back of a five length second in a 1350m Restricted 64 handicap at Donald last month and while she rates highly a wide barrier is a negative in this event.
With the barrier allocation in mind it can pay to look elsewhere with preference for CASTLE ON HIGH who is set to jump from barrier three.
The gelding performed well on his sole previous start at this venue finishing a close fourth in a 1600m maiden held on a good 4 track here in February.
While the pick jumped at odds-on that day he was beaten less than half-a-length and was freshened following that effort.
The selection dropped to 1417m when placing third back on a wet track at Werribee in May prior to breaking his maiden at Seymour at the end of that month.
The Eminent gelding raced on a soft 7 track when contesting a 1600m maiden at Seymour and he has been freshened since that effort.
The Anthony & Sam Freedman team can boast a 30% strike-rate (12/40) in the last 30 days and their representative looks capable of completing a double.
Underhand to resume with Ipswich win
In Queensland they race at Ipswich with the fourth race of the day an 800m Benchmark 70 handicap contest.
A soft 5 track is expected for the race with Campai expected to feature prominently in the betting following a victory on the polytrack at Gold Coast last month.
The five-year-old won by just under a length when racing from the front that day having previously finished half-a-length second under similar tactics at Sunshine Coast.
Boris Thornton's mount had contested a similar race to this held over 1000m on a soft 7 track at Sunshine Coast however UNDERHAND is preferred on this occasion.
Trained by Steven O'Dea & Matthew Hoysted the filly has performed well at this venue in the past winning once and finishing runner-up twice from four starts here.
The second of those second place finishes saw her beaten less than a length in a track and trip Benchmark 75 handicap held on a soft 5 surface in September.
The four-year-old was spelled subsequently and she resumed with a victory in a course and distance Benchmark 62 handicap in February.
The daughter of Winning Rupert raced on a good 4 track that day and she was spelled following a below par fifth of sixth here subsequently.
Cejay Graham takes the ride for the first time and jumping from barrier seven she is taken to steer the filly to a first up success.
Choixway for Bunbury glory
The penultimate race at Bunbury is a 1427m Class 3 handicap set to take place on a soft 6 track.
CHOIXWAY broke his maiden over 1000m at Northam when debuting in August last year and registered his first victory since when saluting at Belmont last time.
The three-year-old had been freshened prior to registering a narrow margin victory in a 1300m Class 1 handicap held on a soft 5 track that day.
A return to frontrunning tactics appeared to suit with the youngster getting the better of his ten rivals having jumped from next to the rail.
The selection has to overcome barrier nine here however that Belmont form looks solid enough with the seventh winning since and a number of the beaten horses placing subsequently.
The drop to provincial level racing is in Brayden Gaerth's mounts favour and he looks capable of saluting stepping up in distance.
