After two solid runs this campaign it should be a case of third time lucky for General Groove at Geelong in the Emsley Lodge Benchmark 70 Handicap.
The gelding has rattled home from worse than midfield in his past two outings, the latest when second at Caulfield behind Our Hand Of Faith.
Form out of that race has since held up fairly through the winner while General Groove gets a chance to frank it in the Emsley Lodge Benchmark 70 Handicap (1225m).
The four-year-old rates highly amongst this field on 50 day weight adjusted figures and based on a master figure of 93 has room for further improvement third run from a spell.
In a field of nine, General Groove will settle worse than midfield. After hitting the line like a freight train in his past two runs though, perhaps from an inside barrier jockey Stephen Baster can have the General Nediym gelding positioned further forward than one of the last few in the field.
Seeing him sixth would be pleasing but in saying that it wouldn’t be the end of the world if this didn’t occur with the likes of Red Bomber, Oneman Wolfpack and Bern Bee all capable of injecting pace into the race on their day.
General Groove does have a sense of timing about him in the Emsley Lodge Benchmark 70 Handicap (1225m) at Geelong on Thursday however there are dangers.
Senglea Sun shapes as one of them after just being denied a second straight win at this track 15 days ago.
The gelding has shown his tractability this campaign, racing effectively from worse than midfield and also up on the speed.
He looks to have turned a corner this campaign and on 50 day weight adjusted ratings sits right alongside General Groove.
Senglea Sun’s latest outing was a career best effort though so how open the Haradasun gelding is to further improvement looks the main query.
The race loses some of its quality with the scratching of Grand Orator however keep an eye on the likes of Red Bomber and Electric Shot.
Electric Shot was unfortunate enough to clash with the talented Lord Of The Sky on resuming at Caulfield last start but his third still possessed merit.
Red Bomber showed very encouraging signs during his three start maiden campaign which culminated with a maiden win at Echuca.
He has since been given time to further mature and from an inside barrier is expected to be prominent throughout.
