Canberra betting tips, top odds & quaddie picks | Sunday, 13/3/22
| What | Canberra Races |
| Where | Thoroughbred Park – 1 Randwick Road, Lyneham ACT 2602 |
| When | Sunday, March 13, 2022 |
| Feature Race | Race 8 – Group 3 Black Opal Stakes (1200m) |
| First Race | 12:25pm AEDT |
| Watch Live | |
The nation’s capital plays host to feature racing on Sunday afternoon, with the running of the Group 3 Black Opal Stakes for two-year-olds, so HorseBetting’s racing analyst has done the form and brings you his best bets and quaddie numbers for the nine-race program. The track at Canberra is currently rated a Soft 5, while the rail is out 3m for the entire course. The field for the first race of the day will face the starter at 12:25pm, before feature racing commences at 4:21pm with the Listed National Sprint.
National Sprint Best Bet – Irish Songs
In the first feature race of the afternoon, Kurt Goldman and Tommy Berry combine with Irish Songs. The six-year-old gelding has had 43 starts for just the five career wins, but he is a very consistent commodity who is rarely far away. The son of Shamus Award had a month between runs going into his most recent start when splitting Rose Quartz and The Garden over 1200m at Flemington. Since then, Rose Quartz has been narrowly beaten, while The Garden went to Sandown on Wednesday and won by three quarters of a length, so that form looks red hot. Irish Songs drops 1.5kg from that run and gets to a track where he is one from one at. He should get back from barrier 11 and be running on strongly under Tommy Berry.
Black Opal Stakes Best Bet – Metallicity
Being on a Sunday just six days before the Golden Slipper always makes the Black Opal a tricky race to do form for, with a number of horses accepted at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, so the field could change quite a bit. For that reason, we are going to side with one that is not a dual acceptor, and that is the Peter & Paul Snowden-trained Metallicity. The colt by Zoustar started favourite on debut at Randwick when fourth behind Mumbai Jewel and Sandpaper, but there was plenty of merit to his run. Prior to his debut, the two-year-old won three barrier trials in fine style. He is going to have his work cut out from barrier 14, but we are tipping that there will be a few scratchings so he should come in a few gates. Tommy Berry does the riding again, so that is a plus as well. Metallicity can give the Snowden stable their third-straight Black Opal.
Canberra’s Best Bet Of The Day – Pink Panther
In the final race of the day, Joe Cleary and Bordie Loy combine with Pink Panther who is looking to win his third race in a row. The son of Real Impact has recorded back-to-back wins at Queanbeyan, winning his maiden by 6.87 lengths on February 20 and then winning a Class 1 by 6.55 lengths on March 6. Both of those victories came over 1600m, which is the same distance that he lines up over on Sunday, and he rises only half a kilogram to 58kg. Having drawn barrier four, Loy will take the three-year-old gelding to the front and he should be very hard to beat if he can repeat the dose of his past two wins.
Next Best Bet – The Face
You could arguably say that Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou are the best first-up trainers, so it is hard to go against The Face in race six. The four-year-old son of Rubick has been scratched from Rosehill Gardens on Saturday in preference for this, so that is a big push, while this race is quite easier than what he was accepted in on Saturday. The Face has only won two of his 10 starts, but he has been in the minor money on a further four occasions, including a narrow second in the 2021 Group 3 Eskimo Prince Stakes behind Peltzer. He has been a little while between drinks, but he finds an easy race and should be able to lead from barrier eight under Jay Ford. He looks too good for these.
Best Value At Canberra – Major Time
In the fourth race, Major Time goes around in a Benchmark 75 over 1200m. the Gratz Vella-trained six-year-old absolutely loves racing at Canberra, having won three times and placed 10 times from 19 starts at the track. The son of Epaulette won three starts ago at this track and distance by one and half lengths before going to Warwick Farm and finishing second to Roots who we have a big opinion of. After that, Vella brough the bay gelding back to Canberra where he ran second again in a Federal behind Calescent. Back to Benchmark 75 company should be a goer for this gelding, while the 3kg claim from Molly Bourke sees him in with just 58kg which is going to be a big advantage. He can run a bottler.
Canberra Quaddie Tips – March 13, 2022
| Canberra quadrella selections | |
|---|---|
| Leg 1: | 1-3-7 |
| Leg 2: | 1-2-4-5 |
| Leg 3: | 1-4-5-7-8-10-14 |
| Leg 4: | 2-3 |
| Investment: | $168 for 100% |