Emerald Duke couldn’t have been more impressive winning in the wet here three weeks back and he can go right on with it today.
It was his third-straight win and easily his most impressive to date, given the concerns about his wet-track credentials leading into the race.
They were put to bed about 250m home over the mile when he sprinted to the lead and raced clear, eased up on the line to finish 4.5L in front.
Today he gets his chance out to 2020m and it should suit him perfectly.
Trainer John Morrisey has always had an opinion of this four-year-old.
He won a midweek race here three back over 1350m to put the writing on the wall then was sensationally backed from $61 into almost $3.75 to narrowly win at Eagle Farm two back.
That was before his demolition job here two weeks back, and it’s hard to see any horse beating him today either.
Catalonia looks a danger, dropping back slightly in trip after finishing just half a length off Save The Star with a weaving late run here two weeks back.
Volkhere and Lentini Mist also came through that race, although Emerald Duke looks to have more upside than that quartet.
The ultra-frustrating Arctic also lines up in this one, looking for his third win at start number 30.
He’s been a friend of the bookies for a long time now, but you just get the feeling one day he’s going to put it all together in win by four or five.
I don’t think that’ll be here though. Take the $2.10 about Emerald Duke.
Fast forward to race 7 and I like the look of Bingo Rose at $6.50 in the no-metro-win handicap over 1350m.
She ran a strong race here two weeks back over 1200m, finishing off strongly to get within three lengths of Love Rocks, who will potentially jump as favourite in the feature this afternoon, the Lough Neagh Stakes.
There’s an interesting formline here linking Bingo Rose with the current favourite for the race in Vacallo, rated a $4.20 chance in this.
He ran on well to finish a 1.8L second here two weeks ago over this trip behind The White Hope.
Two weeks prior to that, Love Rocks belted The White Hope by 3.5L over 1200m at Eagle Farm.
Bingo Rose and Vacallo meet on level terms here, the difference being Vacallo will be ridden by a 1.5kg claiming apprentice.
Bingo Rose is also second-up today getting up to his favourite trip while Vacallo is stepping out for his eighth runs this campaign, and is unlikely to improve any further.
At $6.50, Bingo Rose looks a superb each-way bet.
We’re going back to the two-year-olds for our lay of the day, and it comes in the very first on the program.
Divine Service has come up the $3 favourite after narrowly winning on debut at Eagle Farm four weeks ago as a 50-1 shot.
It was a solid performance and a major upset although he comes up against a larger, and a tougher field today.
Celestial Dragon and Sagatona both ran well on debut three weeks back in the wet at this track and should improve today.
There’s also a stack of debutants for some of the bigger stables up here, and given how close we are to the Magic Millions Classic, you’d have to think a few of those will be ready to fire.
Steer clear of the $3 about Divine Service.
BANKER: Race 5 No 2 Emerald Duke @ $2.10
BET OF THE DAY: Race 7 No 2 Bingo Rose @ $6.50
LAY OF THE DAY: Race 1 No 2 Divine Service @ $3
