Cairns Cup 2020 racing tips & value bets
The $85,000 Red Beret Hotel Cairns Cup (2100m) is the feature race of the Cairns Carnival on Friday afternoon. Race favourite North Afrika has drawn perfectly in barrier two to show his customary gate speed and should lead the field. Townsville Cup winner Shiranda will go forward also from the inside gate. Four-year-old Paniagua sits on the second line of betting after winning his last five races, which include both the Mackay Guineas and Townsville Guineas.
2020 Cairns Cup betting tips
North Afrika @ $2.70
Having been scratched from the Rockhampton, Mackay and Townsville equivalents this campaign, former Victorian galloper North Afrika has at last made it into the final field of a North Queensland cup. He’s made amends for not making those fields by winning a different race on each of those days, which takes his current streak to four in a row. He’s carried 62kg, 63kg, 61.5kg and 59.5kg in his four victories and drops back to 54.5kg in tomorrow’s feature, with jockey Ryan Wiggins allowed to ride 0.5kg over his allocated 54kg. He’s drawn perfectly in gate two to lead the field as he has done in all of his starts up that way and will take some serious catching, especially considering the large drop in weights. His last-start Cairns victory was enormous, and he should be able to make it five on the trot here.
Tunero @ $11
Trained and ridden by Stephen Wilson, Tunero was luckless in his first NQ start when beaten a head in the Townsville Cup. He settled just behind the leaders and had plenty of gas left in the tank in the straight but was forced to change his path and go back to the inside, which cost him the race in the end. Up to 2100m should suit the son of Teofilo, as his last run suggests the extra 100m will be to his liking. He is drawn awkwardly in the outside alley, but without a great deal of speed in the race, Wilson might elect to roll forward and settle two or three pairs back on the outside of a horse like Cinnamon Missile or Kuttamurra Al who have drawn low. He adds value.
Shiranda @ $8.50
It’s hard to knock the likes of Unbiased, Shiranda, Best Hoffa and Paniagua in a race with plenty of depth, and they nearly all need to be included in your multiples. Shiranda was tough when winning the Townsville Cup last start over 2000m on the six-day turnaround from Doomben on the Saturday when lame. He’s drawn perfectly in barrier one to go forward and box seat for Gary Kliese, which should give the gelding every chance in the straight to make it back-to-back cups. He does go up 2.5kg and the 2100m is a slight worry, but he’s the horse with both the fitness and the form on his side to make him the value in the race at around the $8.50. This is his eighth run since mid-June, and he’s only missed the places once in that time in a forgivable miss at Doomben.
$75 win – North Afrika
$25 trifecta (119%) – 5/3-9-13/1-2-3-4-9-10-12-13