Early Mail for Randwick On February 22

Early mail and best exotic plays for Randwick on February 22 from racing editor Chris Scholtz.

RANDWICK SATURDAY

RACE 2 (4) OUR DESERT WARRIOR: Expect to see big improvement on his first-up effort at Randwick behind his fitter stablemate Almighty Charge when he looked underdone for the 1400m despite having won two trials. He was still only beaten 1.6 lengths carrying 60.5kg and will be much harder to run down under these conditions as he should get a soft lead that will allow him to exploit a 5kg drop in weight.

RACE 4 (6) DANCES ON STARS: Resumed with an excellent late closing win in the Carrington Stakes (1100m) at this course before again running home strongly for a close second in the Takeover Target over 1200m at Gosford. He’s had a 43 break since the Gosford race but still holds a fitness edge on others resuming from longer spells and should be very competitive in this field dropping 3.5kg on his last run. His Randwick record is first class and never being out of a place in four starts at 1200m adds to his appeal.

RACE 6 (14) GAMBLESTOWN: Lightly raced 3YO from the Guy Walter stable looks to have a lot of upside after resuming with a luckless second over 1250m at Canterbury carrying 60kg. Sure to have taken plenty of benefit from that outing and while he steps up in class he will relish going to 1400m and is well drawn to take advantage of a 6.5kg drop in weight from his first-up placing.