Sandown Hillside best bets & quaddie tips | Wednesday, May 10
| What | Sandown Hillside Races |
| Where | Sandown Racecourse – 591-659 Princes Hwy, Springvale VIC 3171 |
| When | Wednesday, May 10, 2023 |
| First Race | 12:25pm AEST |
Racing will return to Sandown this Wednesday afternoon, with the Melbourne Racing Club hosting a very competitive eight-race card on the Hillside track. The current track rating of a Soft 7 is what we hope to see on raceday, but we could see worse as there is more rain and cold weather on the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday. The rail will be pushed out to the +14m position for the entire circuit, which should see the track play very favourably to leaders and on-pace runners. The first race of the day will kick off at 12:25pm AEST.
Best Bet at Sandown: Ranveer
In the first leg of the quaddie, Ranveer from the Matt Laurie yard will be second-up for this preparation having finished second on return at Mornington on April 22 over 1000m. Coming off an 18-month break, the four-year-old flashed home from the back of the field to finish second and only go down by half a length. The son of Winning Rupert ran in some very nice races before that, including the Group 2 Danehill Stakes and Group 3 Blue Sapphire Stakes, so he is hard to look past when dropping back to a midweek Benchmark 70 Handicap. Ben Melham is the only jockey to have recorded a victory on this gelding, which was at his second race start at the same track and distance back in June of 2021. With Ranveer jumping from barrier three, expect Melham to settle a lot closer to the likely leader in Squad, and if he does, he should be very hard to beat.
Best Bet
Race 5 – 
#2 Ranveer (3)
4yo Gelding | T: Matt Laurie | J: Ben Melham (61kg)
Next Best at Sandown: Free Willed
The penultimate race of the day will be a Benchmark 64 Handicap for three-year-old fillies, where the Cindy Alderson-trained Free Willed looms large after an ultra-impressive effort last start at Cranbourne. At her second race start, this daughter of Tivaci led from the barriers and was taken on by Penman in the lead before she was clearly headed by Precast at the top of the home straight; however, she fought back and put half a length on the eventual runner-up to break her maiden in fine style. After having Daniel Moor on board for her first two starts, this filly will get the services of Mark Zahra, which should only be seen as a positive. The only query we have is that Free Willed has to jump from barrier 14, but if Zahra can get her to jump well and find the lead or settle outside the leader, we should see her go very close to winning again.
Next Best
Race 7 – 
#4 Free Willed (14)
3yo Filly | T: Cindy Alderson | J: Mark Zahra (59kg)
Best Value at Sandown: Frankenstar
In the lone staying race of the day, the Kathryn Durden-trained Frankenstar is coming off an impressive first-up victory at Geelong over 2440m. This six-year-old had been given two trials over 2800m and 2400m before that win, and he should be ready to run well again when second-up on Wednesday. This son of Fiorente will be staying at the 2400m, but with the track expected to be in the Soft to Heavy range, it should suit him perfectly. Jarrod Fry has ridden this gelding five times for three wins, so with him retaining the ride from last start, we expect Frankenstar to be given every chance to bring up back-to-back wins.
Best Value
Race 6 – 
#5 Frankenstar (9)
6yo Gelding | T: Kathryn Durden | J: Jarrod Fry (60.5kg)
Wednesday quaddie tips for Sandown races
Sandown quadrella selections
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
- 2-9
- 1-2-5-12
- 1-3-4-11
- 1-3-6-10-13-14
Investment: $192 for 100%