Best Bets

Race 1 - #1 THE RED KRACKEN (WIN)

The Red Kracken has shown enough talent in his two career starts to be winning a maiden of this caliber. On debut, he didn’t ever have a winning chance after being hampered early and getting well back, then progressing onto heels before the turn, only to finish on strongly late to record the fastest closing 200m in the race. 2^nd up, he jumped much better and ran a great race from the trail to only go down a nose on the line, beating the remainder of the field by 3.5L. He maps to get a soft run just off likely leader, Keep It Loose, whilst also settling a couple pairs in front of key race rival, Bella Rose.

Race 4 - #1 DAVID MOSS (WIN)

His last start 2^nd, beaten 1L by subsequent Listed NZB Warstep Stakes winner, She’s A Con, reads extremely well for this. The speed in the race looks moderate at best, therefore the tactics employed last start by Krishna Mudhoo to lead and roll in front looks to suit here. He would have to regress significantly from his last performance, or not handle the likely Heavy10 conditions, to be toppled in this field.

Value Bet

Race 8 - #2 INDUSTRIALIST (WIN)

I’ll be having a small win play on Industrialist in the last of the day, where the track could be on the worse side of a Heavy10. This 5yo son of Sweet Orange hasn’t been exposed to anything worse than a Soft7, which will be the obvious question mark here. He’s having his first run down in the South Island for Sally McKay. His form this campaign in the north not being overly flattering, although he was only 1.6L behind the likes of Stonybreck when running 9^th 1^st up without any luck down the straight.  The race looks to have plenty of early tempo, which should see him settle behind midfield, his best would see him go close if he cops the conditions.