Five last start winners front up for the third at Moonee Valley tonight in what might just be the pick of the weekends racing in Melbourne.
Those five include three maiden winners for top yards, Boer, Awasita and Chater Gardens, who scored by 5, 4.5 and 2.8 lengths respectively, all giving the impression they were destined for better things.
Magnesia, the colt that won his maiden last time by the slimmest margin, ran the best timefigure and is at least as interesting as all of them.
A cracking race, but perhaps the best betting angle on the card comes later on (in the last in-fact) in the form of Baluch, a talented mare who looks to have found the right race.
She has fairly obvious form claims and the race looks set to pan out nicely for her.
2/1 looks a fair price.
We roll on into Saturday where the same yard produces a most interest runner first-up.
Flamberge ran well in a series of good form races last campaign and strikes a race where a majority of the field are thoroughly exposed and in the midst of long winning droughts.
Flamberge has form ahead of the majority of them and more scope to improve on it, a fairly potent combination.
The big threat is the speedy mare She Can Skate coming off good efforts in higher grade.
With talented, but enigmatic, horses like Decircles and Infinite Energy up in the market a decent opportunity is created and we can play up Flamberge and She Can Skate every which way.
One favourite worth dodging is By The Grace in race three.
She comes up 6/4 in early betting after chasing home the promising Girl In Flight at Sale and while her effort there was good it was certainly no better than what we have seen from Countersnip, Essential Element or Gracious Prospect.
The latter two in that trio are more exposed but they still represent a challenge for By The Grace, greater than her prices suggests, and hence she is opposed.
THE MELBOURNE MAIL:
Banker: MV R8 #3 Baluch @ $3
Play Of The Day: Caul R6 #12,6 Flamberge/She Can Skate
Lay Of The Day: Caul R3 #2 By The Grace @ $2.5
