Race Preview - Race Services 2YO Maiden Plate

PREVIEW

FINANCE TYCOON (NOW SCR) was far from disgraced on debut when only 2.2L off General Beau. He will be improved here and a replicate of that run should see him in the finish from a friendly draw of barrier 1. Race experience in a race full of 2yo's on debut is a big tick. He was scratched from the other 2YO race down the straight to return to a bend here which saw him win a jump out ahead of General Beau.

TREPORTI and GHOSTLY IMAGE come from the same Oct 9 Flemington jump out, finishing 1st and 2nd respectfully. The overall time was the second quickest of the day from 16x heats... the only runner to run a faster heat was the 99-rated From Within. This was GHOSTLY IMAGE's second jump out though so he had that slight experience and fitness edge (invaluable for 2yo's). He was a $400k purchase at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yeraling Sales while TREPORTI was $600k and is a half to the Lindsay Park maiden galloper, It's Friday. TREPORTI will come on heaps from that first jump out and gets the winkers on for the first time.

GRINZINGER PRINCE had two 600m jump outs at Mornington, the first a win going to the line with Darceandermill who finished 11th of 12 runners on debut at Caulfield. The second jump out was ran 0.14s slower than Darceandermill on the same day. He was a $250k purchase at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sales.

PRINCE AMONGST MEN had two nice Caulfield jump outs and certainly couldn't knock any of them. SERLIK (NOW SCR) only had the one jump out over 650m at Ballarat and it was in a genuine jog in slow time - can't take much away from it. In saying that, Michelle Payne paid $500k for this colt by Frankel...

BUTTER BLONDE led a jump out on Sep 18 but was just run over late to finish 3rd. The horses that ran over her were 3yo Defence Force (since 1st on debut) and the 3yo Savagery for Chris Waller. Her second jump out again saw her lead but finishing a very close 2nd while gapping 3rd. They ran the second fastest time of 13x heats that day too. She has drawn beautifully here with barrier 3 to allow here to go forward and take up the lead along the rail. Also worth noting she is a half to Bomber's Kiss who was a 5L maiden winner over 1600m only 2 weeks ago. She's not big in stature but is speedy.

EXCELA BELLA gets the blinkers on after a disappointing debut run. She will be improved. KHAN'S TREASURE has had a couple of Seymour jump outs and wasn't disgraced, but not sure the quality she came up against.

NUMBERS

#6 TREPORTI (4) - D O'Brien
#7 BUTTER BLONDE (3) - G Waterhouse & A Bott
#4 PRINCE AMONGST MEN (2) - M Price & M Kent Jnr
#3 GRINZINGER PRINCE (7) - J Warren & D Krongold

VERDICT

We think the winner comes from one of BUTTER BLONDE or TREPORTI so we're happy to back both if the odds permit. Being mindful that there is some rain expected in Melbourne. UPDATE : Heavy track come race morning.

If we have 5 units to spend on the race in early markets, looking at 3.5 units on TREPORTI at the $4.40 mark ($3.65 post SCR) and 1.5 units on BUTTER BLONDE at the $6.00 mark ($4.98 post SCR).

TERPORTI's jump out was super and he now gets the winkers on for the first time. He will come on heaps from that and barrier 4 will allow him to take a sit (most likely), although Ben Allen might elect to push forward if he jumps well enough. He looks like a big horse who moves well so happy to be with him.

BUTTER BLONDE has very good form from that first jump out against the older horses and they ran very good time in her second jump out. She's not big, but can't knock her jump outs and barrier 3 will see her lead (hopefully) or be on speed and be hard to chase down.

Think Nugent is their pick of rider's too - they only have the one runner on Sunday at Kilmore and he is riding which might be a push to this runner over their other runner in this field.

PRINCE AMONGST MEN the third but think those top two have an edge on the rest of the field. He looked professional in his jump outs and is a definite place chance. Queries on GRINZINGER PRICE after the form of Darceandermill but the Heavy track might come into his favour as he did trial on a Soft(7) and Soft(5) track and handled it fine.

Didn't see enough from GHOSTLY IMAGE to think he turns the tables on TREPORTI. KHAN'S TREASURE wasn't disgraced, but again queries on the quality of the jump out so happy to leave out. EXCELA BELLA gets the blinkers but barrier 8 of 9 is ordinary and not sure she really showed much on debut.

RESULT / REVIEW

The best result for us would've been a TREPORTI win, but didn't look to fully handle the Heavy track to finish 3rd at $3.11 / $1.49 BSP. Our other play got the win though, with BUTTER BLONDE leading the whole way in typical Gai Waterhouse fashion at a good price in the end of $6.40 / $2.17 BSP.

If you followed the unit strategy by outlaying 5 units as recommended, you would've returned a profit 2.5 units if you played in early markets OR a profit of 4.6 units if you played at the Betfair SP.

A nice profitable result for those who followed!