Townsville Cup 2020 racing tips & value bets
It’s Townsville’s big day this Friday with the running of the $85,000 TAB Townsville Cup and the Cleveland Bay Handicap. A full field will face the starter for the 2000m event, where Mackay Cup winner Best Hoffa will jump as favourite. There doesn’t appear to be a great deal of speed, so we will likely see Shiranda push forward from his wide gate to lead with Fab’s Cowboy and Follow Suit also prominent.
Friday racing tips for 2020 Townsville Cup
Best Hoffa @ $4.20 Sportsbet
It’s very hard to ignore what Best Hoffa did last start in Mackay when he raced away to score a 4.3-length victory in the staying feature, and he maps to get a very similar run here from barrier 10. He does rise 2kg in weight up to 57kg, but that won’t stop him if he can reproduce what he showed at Mackay. Pietro Romeo stays aboard the eight-year-old gelding and will hope to add a Townsville Cup to his list of accolades.
Buster Block @ $13 Sportsbet
Buster Block ran second in the Mackay Cup, where he came from off the speed and chased hard in the straight. He meets Best Hoffa 3kg better off this time around, and we are getting $13 for a horse who loves Townsville (14:5-3-1) and jumped out of the ground last outing when rising to 2000m for the first time. We can expect to see him midfield with a bit of cover from barrier 13 (nine after scratchings) and get every chance in the 300m straight. Appears great value.
Tunero @ $14 Sportsbet
One horse that brings differing form lines is ex-Chris Waller gelding Tunero. The six-year-old has always promised plenty but has only managed to find the winner’s circle three times from 30 starts, albeit in Sydney and Brisbane metropolitan races. He was beaten nine lengths at his last start at Doomben on a Heavy 9, a track condition that he does not go an inch on, so we are happy to forgive that run and look at the start before when third behind Countess De Galves at Doomben over 1650m. He made up a lot of ground on that occasion to be beaten only two lengths. He should get the run of the race from barrier four under Stephen Wilson, who now rides and trains the gelding, so we can be assured that he’ll be riding to win.
Best Hoffa – $75 win
Buster Block – $5 win, $20 place