Missile Stakes 2020 racing tips, value bets & odds

Flit
Godolphin star Flit features prominently in the betting for Saturday’s Group 2 Missile Stakes at Rosehill Gardens.

Saturday’s Group 2 Iron Jack Missile Stakes over 1200m marks the first Rosehill Gardens feature of the 2020/21 Australian horse racing season. Running for $200,000, star New Zealand mare Melody Belle holds favouritism over Eduardo and Flit. Special Reward and Eduardo will look to lead, with Godolphin mare Savatiano and eight-year-old gelding Le Romain to take a sit just off them.

Free betting tips for 2020 Missile Stakes

Best Bet
Flit @ $6 Neds

First up off a four-month spell, Flit looks well placed in what is not the strongest of Group 2 races outside of the top three or four chances. Drawn low in barrier one, James McDonald should find himself settling off the speed and utilising the four-year-old mare’s strong finish, which we saw when she was narrowly defeated by Splintex in the Arrowfield Sprint in her last run. JMac has built a strong affiliation with stablemate Savatiano in the last few seasons and finds himself on the Thousands Guineas winner, which is certainly a change of note. Flit’s first-up record is superb and she races very well on rain-affected surfaces, so she should be in this up to her ears. The 1200m is her go, so we are keen to play at $6.

Next Best
Melody Belle @ $3.70 Neds

It’s impossible to overlook Jamie Richards’ Melody Belle as she prepares for an Australian spring campaign, with likely targets including the Epsom and Empire Rose Stakes. She is drawn slightly awkwardly in barrier 11, which will mean she could be last as they turn for home under Kerrin McEvoy, but that is our only concern over the 1200m first up. She hasn’t raced over 1200m since this time last year when resuming at Te Rapa, where she finished fourth in a Group 2 race before going on to win four Group 1 races in a row. She is a genuine mudlark and an out-and-out superstar with 15 wins, 10 Group 1 titles and nearly $3.5 million in prizemoney, but we just want to see her first.

Best Value
Savatiano @ $6.50 Neds

We are all about the mares in this one, with our top value bet in the race coming in the form of the six-year-old Savatiano. An absolute jet first up from a spell (7:4-0-1), the Street Cry mare comes into this with some great credentials. She was a winner of the Group 2 Millie Fox first up last campaign and a winner of the Tristarc and The Hunter towards the end of last year, which is certainly good enough form to be competitive here. In the race with just 55.5kg, Rachel King takes the ride from barrier five and should give Savatiano every chance. She only has the one placing on a heavy track but was a trial winner 10 days ago on a Heavy 9, which suggests she should get through it. If she can bring her best, she will go close in this.

$100 Betting Strategy

Flit – $50 each way

Neds

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