Few horses in the land are as ready for victory as Ready For Victory and there is little reason to doubt the form in front of our eyes.
To confirm just how ready Ready For Victory really is, we at The Melbourne Mail went to the stable's stats page and went looking for clues. Do the numbers point to a third-up spike? Do they return a huge profit when up 200m?
Alas, the thing you will notice about the Mick Price stable by the numbers is that there are no clues. He is just rock solid across the board. Predictably good in most scenarios. Very few outliers.
The stable strikes between 17% and 19% from first-up fifth-up and beyond. 17% with first-starters. Just ahead of the curve at 34% with favourites - losing less than the bookmakers round. Solid, year on year, season on season. Quite boring really, but boring is predictable and we punters like predictable.
Given that we can take runners for the Mick Price stable on face value. Ready For Victory comes out and runs well fresh. Cue Ready For Victory coming out and running well second up.
Ready For Victory looked beaten for speed over the 1200m in the Danehill last time. Having to baulk his way around a tiring Black Vanquish just as the race was hitting it's straps did him few favours and he did well to pick up and rally to the line as he did.
The margin was unfair and the first three pulled clear in a race that - in very Mick Price style - returned rock solid figures across the board.
They are numbers that place him head and shoulders above the lesser field he tackles at Caulfield. There are some nice horses engaged, sure, but they are scrapping away trying to climb the ladder a couple of rungs below where Ready For Victory current sits.
And it's not just about the rung that Ready For Victory currently occupies, it's about the rungs he is yet to reach, and where he promises to go.
Ready For Victory's spring is coiled tight, perhaps as tight as any in the land - though Kermadec looks ready to explode when given his chance to go beyond a mile (stay tuned for the Melbourne Mail heading into Caulfield Stakes Day!).
Few races set themselves up for an each-way play better than the Rupert Clarke.
Four-year-olds rule the roost here, winning 45% of Rupert Clarkes since 1992 despite providing just 31% of the runners, and they come well equipped again in 2015.
Disposition quite rightly heads up the market but it is his contemporary Stratum Star that interests us.
There wasn't a great deal between the pair of them in a strong C.S Hayes last season and Stratum Star's Memsie run last time out suggests that he has come back better than ever this spring.
With Stratum Star around the $7.00 mark the gap between the pair looks a little bit big in the early betting and Stratum Star makes good each way appeal.
THE MELBOURNE MAIL
Bet Of The Day: Race 6 #3 Ready For Victory @ $3.50
Each Way Play: Race 8 #11 Stratum Star @ $7.00
