Best horse racing tips for Randwick and Bendigo, Saturday April 1
THE Championships are all the rage in Sydney this weekend, but there’s also some quality racing action at Bendigo’s stand alone meeting.
We have sorted through the form for both Randwick and Bendigo to find our best tips for the day and five runners have made the cut.
We start at Bendigo which features the Bendigo Guineas, Golden Mile and the Gold Bracelet, on a cracker card in Victoria.
Our first tip comes earlier in the day where a talented field lines up in the $250,000 Gold Rush, but there’s one runner that stands out above the rest.
Limestone – Bendigo Race 3
Limestone missed the Blue Diamond Stakes last start, but there’s plenty to like about the two-year-old despite the set back.
The Darren Weir-trained filly finished third on debut behind Blue Diamond winner Catchy before winning back-to-back races in fine style.
The daughter of Helmut won by 1.5 lengths at Flemington before winning the Blue Diamond Preview by a nose over the well-performed Tulip.
It lost no admirers when running second behind Catchy in the Prelude last start at Caulfield and it resumes here against a lesser-talented field. That will suit and its experience will count for plenty in a race like this.
Bookmakers aren’t offering punters a big price, but the $1.85 at Sportsbet.com.au looks a good multi-bet inclusion early in the day at Bendigo.
Burning Front – Bendigo Race 7
It’s hard not to like Burning Front and winning horses will always remain popular with punters.
The six-year-old has rattled off five consecutive wins which included a half-length victory at Morphettville last time out. Its form prior was stellar and although it’s been in work for awhile now, it’s tough to fault.
The Weir-trained gelding stays at the mile where it has won five from 11 with four placings and we have found no reason to jump off its back.
It will have to carry a big weight, but this isn’t the hardest field it’s ever faced and the $3.50 with Ladbrokes.com.au is a better price than we expected.
Aloft – Randwick Race 3
Conditions have forced us to go against Big Duke in the Chairman’s Handicap and instead following the hype surrounding Aloft.
The five-year-old was a solid winner at Flemington last start which came on March 11 and that break will have it in good order for this. On the contrary, Big Duke had to slug it out in heavy conditions last start and some horses might find that tough to recover from.
Aloft is another talented European import which shouldn’t find the distance any problem having won over two miles at Royal Ascot in 2015. That form has continued to stack up nicely in Australia and the son of Galileo is bred to handle the wet.
Its current odds of $4.50 is expected to shorten as punters are starting to rally against the current favourite Big Duke.
Perfect Dare – Randwick Race 4
The Country Championships can be a tough series to figure out, but Perfect Dare has competed well against much strong opposition and only the conditions worry.
The Matthew Dunn-trained gelding qualified for this race by scoring a 5.3-length win at Grafton last start, which followed a career-best performance on the Gold Coast.
The four-year-old finished second in the Magic Millions Cup behind Testashadow and that form is far superior to most of these rivals on Saturday. It has yet to run a bad race over this distance, but the lack of experience on wet tracks is frightening punters.
Hugh Bowman rides and we’re prepared to take the risk at odds of $3.20 with CrownBet.com.au.
Gingernuts – Randwick Race 7
New Zealand raider Gingernuts is by far the best-performed horse in the race and punters are still getting good odds.
The Te Akau-raced gelding won the Avondale Guineas three starts back after blowing the start before winning the New Zealand Derby in fine style.
The three-year-old gelding scored by a length over Rising Red and it didn’t care about dropping back in distance when winning the Rosehill Guineas.
That came on a heavy track so conditions won’t change for this and the New Zealand age-group staying form is far superior to the locals.
It still has plenty to learn which is the amazing thing and we’re expecting a big run from Gingernuts at odds of $3.30 with Ladbrokes.com.au.