Canterbury free racing preview & top odds | Friday, January 19

January 17, 2024 2:31 pm.

Canterbury night racing tips

What	Canterbury Races
Where	Canterbury Park Racecourse – King St, Canterbury NSW 2193
When	Friday, January 19, 2024
First Race	6pm AEDT
Visit Dabble

The summer series of racing continues at Canterbury on Friday afternoon where a competitive seven-race program awaits punters. The rail moves out +6m the entire circuit for the meeting, and with some minor showers forecast in the lead-up, we expect the Soft 6 rated surface at the time of writing to show some improvement for race-day. The opening event is scheduled to get underway at 6pm AEDT.

Best Bet at Canterbury: Customized

Customized produced a sound debut at Eagle Farm on December 23 and finds a much easier task on Friday evening. The son of Capitalist ran into the eventual Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m) winner and now Group 1 Golden Slipper (1200m) favourite, Storm Boy, on that occasion, whacking away gamely into a third-place finish. It was a promising effort by the two-year-old colt considering it was his first test on race-day conditions, and based on his eye-catching barrier trials, the Peter & Paul Snowden-trained galloper should take plenty of improvement into his second-up target. James McDonald gets the nod this time, and with an opportunity to box-seat from gate one, Customized will take a power of beating.

Best Bet

Race 3 – #5 Customized (1)

2yo Colt | T: Peter & Paul Snowden | J: James McDonald (56kg)

Bet with Bet365

Next Best at Canterbury: Setombe

Setombe was a shade disappointing first-up for the James Cummings barn after getting too far back at this course on January 5. James McDonald had no choice but to drag the daughter of Harry Angel back towards the rear from barrier nine, with the three-year-old unable to reel in her rivals to finish 1.4 lengths away in fifth position. It was still a performance with plenty of merit, and with an immediate step up in trip to the 1250m and barrier two a major benefit, Setombe should find herself in a much more suitable running line when the whips are cracking on Friday night.

Next Best

Race 2 – #5 Setombe (2)

3yo Filly | T: James Cummings | J: James McDonald (57.5kg)

Bet with PlayUp

Next Best Again at Canterbury: Malabar

Malabar will be attempting to turn the tables on stablemate Hellfire Express in the opening event after suffering a half-length defeat on January 1. Both gallopers hit the wire stride for stride, with Hellfire Express narrowly getting the upper hand in the shadows of the post. Malabar was only first-up on that occasion and lacked match-day fitness on his key rival but didn’t shirk the task at any stage. Molly Bourke sticks aboard the gelding by Dissident giving Malabar a critical 3.5kg swing in the weights, and with a soft run in transit from gate two, we anticipate a bold showing second-up into the campaign.