Hotham Handicap 2020 betting tips & best odds
| What | Hotham Handicap |
| Where | Flemington Racecourse – 448 Epsom Rd, Flemington VIC 3031 |
| When | Saturday, October 31, 2020 | 1:40pm AEDT | Race 4 |
| Prizemoney | $300,000 |
| Distance | 2500m |
| Status | Group 3 |
| Race Conditions | Quality handicap |
| 2019 Winner | Downdraft – 59kg (1) | Jockey: John Allen | Trainer: Joseph O’Brien |
| Recommended Betting | |
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2020 Hotham HAndicap betting preview
One last ticket into Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup is up for grabs in the Hotham Handicap – aka the Lexus Hotham Stakes. The race is run over 2500m at Group 3 level with $300,000 prizemoney, but that will mean little to connections if they can get a spot in the big one.
Two horses have completed the double in the last 20 years, Brew in 2020 and Shocking in 2009, while the likes of Signoff, Maluckyday and Prince Of Arran have all been top-four finishers on the first Tuesday in November. Brimham Rocks is the only horse in this year’s field that doesn’t hold a nomination for the Melbourne Cup.
Hush Writer will lead the field from the outside barrier, while we expect to see Schabau, Azuro and Brimham Rocks all handy. Ashrun will start the favourite and looks hard to beat.
We are siding with the favourite here after a gallant third in the Geelong Cup on his Australian debut. He does rise 2.5kg off that run, despite staying at Group 3 level, but he was a fast finisher in the race. He is trained by Melbourne Cup winner in Andreas Wohler and will be partnered by triple Cup-winning jockey in Kerrin McEvoy, so the horse is in the right hands. His European form is good, with solid runs around Ghaiyyath and Technician. He’ll get a lovely gate from barrier two and should be too strong over 2500m.
Future Score comes off an impressive win in the Cranbourne Cup and looks well suited at Flemington. He is a winner here in the Banjo Patterson back in July 2019 over 2600m, and he should be rock-hard fit third up into this. Matt Cumani and Fred Kersley have a brilliant partnership, especially on horses in races 2000m and beyond. Barrier 10 is a little bit tricky, but the lack of speed in the race should allow him to settle on the outside of the field in the first half a dozen. If he produces what he did at Cranbourne last start, he’ll give this a shake.
Gai Waterhouse has won this race twice in the last five years with similar horses to Hush Writer. Both Excess Knowledge and Cismontane bowled along in front and proved too strong and too fit for their rivals, and we see no reason why Hush Writer can’t do that as well. Earlier in the prep, he finished second to Mugatoo in the Newcastle Cup and fourth in the Metropolitan at Group 1 level in Sydney. He then failed last Saturday when beaten 31L in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup, but that track was very heavy and his form suggests he doesn’t go an inch in the wet. Getting back onto a big, firm track where he will get it all his own way in front will make him very hard to catch. At $23, he is definitely worth something each way.
2020 Lexus Hotham Stakes betting tips
| $100 Betting Strategy | |
|---|---|
| $60 win: | Ashrun |
| $15 win: | Future Score |
| $10 win + $15 place: | Hush Writer |
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