Darwin races preview & betting tips | Saturday, December 16

December 15, 2023 11:29 am.

Darwin racing preview

What	Darwin Races
Where	Fannie Bay Racecourse – Dick Ward Dr, Fannie Bay NT 0820
When	Saturday, December 16, 2023
First Race	2:12pm ACST
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There are 45 runners engaged for Saturday’s six-race program at Fannie Bay as the Darwin Turf Club gears up for its penultimate meeting for 2023. The fields are once again quite even, which will make it tough going for punters. The headline act is a Benchmark 76 sprint over 1200m, while the fourth heat of the Lightning Wet Season Series will open the card.

Over 140mm of rain has fallen in the Top End since last Friday’s meeting, with further rain tipped for the rest of the week. The forecast for Saturday is partly cloudy conditions and light westerly winds with a high chance of showers and a thunderstorm, while the mercury is expected to climb to 35C. The rail will be in the true position and Fannie Bay will no doubt be a wet and muddy surface.

BEST BET: FLY NICE

This four-year-old mare has been solid since moving from the Ciaron Maher & David Eustace stable in Victoria in July. She was a narrow third on her Fannie Bay debut on October 21 over 1000m at Class 2 level before finishing 4.5 lengths adrift in third place in the same grade over 1100m on Melbourne Cup Day. The mare then saluted over 1200m in Class 2 on December 1 when beating Wilsons Prom, who was an impressive winner in the Top End last Friday. Fly Nice should have too much class for her rivals, the 2kg claim of in-form apprentice Emma Lines is a bonus.

Best Bet

Race 6 – #2 Fly Nice (3)

4yo Mare | T: Phil Cole | J: Emma Lines (a2) (58.5kg)

-333.33 with Bet365

NEXT BEST: THE ALBION

This son of Shamexpress has been in a rich vein of form since winning over 1300m at BM54 level in Katherine in August. Since then, the six-year-old gelding has posted two wins and four runner-up efforts in six starts at Fannie Bay. The six-year-old gelding is arguably the most consistent horse running around in Darwin right now and is capable of overcoming a wide gate and a big weight.

Next Best

Race 3 – #2 The Albion (7)

6yo Gelding | T: Peter Stennett | J: Adam Nicholls (60kg)

+170 with Neds

NEXT BEST AGAIN: SACCHARO

The fact that online bookmakers quoted Saccharo as an early +650 chance in the feature was hard to ignore. Having suffered an injury after finishing third in the Alice Springs Cup (2000m) on April 30, the eight-year-old returned with a slashing performance over 1200m at BM75 level at Fannie Bay on December 1. Saccharo is above average and strung together back-to-back wins in Darwin in February and March before taking out the weight-for-age Chief Minister’s Cup (1600m) in Alice Springs on April 22.