Sunshine Coast racing tips & top odds | Friday, December 17

Best Bet at Sunshine Coast – Kingston’s Here

He is an enigma, this horse, but you’d like to think the big grey son of Rich Enuff can put this below-average field away in the final race of the night. Trained by the in-form Steven O’Dea & Matt Hoysted team, Kingston’s Here looks beautifully placed on Friday night in this Benchmark 62 for the boys over 1000m. The four-year-old was dominant in a trial at Doomben on December 7, leading all of the way to win over 1000m by 5.5 lengths. Baylee Nothdurft will do the riding from barrier three, so he should be able to get the gun run, if not show the field a clean pair of heels and lead all of the way. The gelding has won two of his eight starts, so he does have ability, although it is worth noting that in his past three starts he was defeated twice as a $1.90 favourite and once as a $1.45 favourite, so he is far from being the punter’s pal. Nevertheless, we are confident he can make amends in this.

Next Best at Sunshine Coast – Princess Tenko

Trainer Kelly Schweida has always had a fair opinion of his four-year-old Princess Tenko, and we think he might have every reason to. The daughter of Japanese stallion Real Impact has had seven starts for two wins and three minor placings, including a solid third when first-up at this track over 1000m on December 5. Princess Tenko now rises to 1200m, a distance where she has never been out of the top two in three starts, and maps perfectly from barrier three under Ben Thompson. We rarely see this mare settle outside of the first few in the run, so from the low draw, Thompson should be able to use her natural gate speed to boot through and control the race from in front. At the end of her last campaign, she finished fourth to Eleoquently in a 3YO Fillies’ Handicap over 1300m at Eagle Farm, which reads very well for this. There is no doubting this is a competitive race, but we expect this girl to be very hard to beat second-up.

Best Value at Sunshine Coast – Laylah’s Wish

The third race of the night is a very open affair with nine three-year-olds having their first race start. We are with one of those nine, in the form of Les Kelly’s filly Laylah’s Wish. The daughter of The Factor has had two trials in preparation for her debut and has been competitive on both occasions. In her first trial, Laylah’s Wish finished fourth to classy gelding So Clever at the Gold Coast in a 900m trial where she attacked the line really nicely after being caught wide, over-racing and forced to be dragged back early on in the piece. At her second trial on November 29, Laylah’s Wish was four wide without cover for much of the 1000m trip but still cruised up to hit the front inside the 100m under a tight hold before Derani, a two-time winner, was pushed along outside to win the trial by two-tenths of a length. Laylah’s Wish has drawn barrier seven in this race under Samantha Collett, who is looking to get her fifth winner in Queensland since arriving from New Zealand at the beginning of November.

Best ValueRace 3 – Laylah’s Wish (#10) $9.50 with Sportsbet