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We’re heading to the tight-turning Canterbury track tonight with four serious chances. 

Emma Reeves aids us with programming and identifies who she thinks is the best placed horse each weekend.  Miss Chanel, Saturday 14th February, Royal Randwick, Race 3: While this is imperfect as she is taking on the boys, one of whom is a winner and finished in front of her on debut, I am attempting not to repeat the same stories and horses each week and I think this one is interesting. This filly put in an, albeit short, career best effort last time out when running second by a little over a quarter of a length in Group 3 company. That was against the girls but the ratings gurus marked that run very highly and, outside of the top one who carries a 1.5kg penalty for that win, I do not think there is a huge amount of depth here. A win would not only make her a very valuable Saturday winning, Group 3 placed two year old, but it would also get her prizemoney up to over $140,000 which almost certainly gains her a start in the Golden Slipper, giving us the flexibility to do whatever is right by her en route to the big one. I think the boys will need to bring their A game to get past this filly.

WEDNESDAY 18th FEBRUARY - WARWICK FARMRail Position: +5m 1000m-WPost, +3m RemainderSATIRICALLY, Race 1, 1400m, 2.20pm, T Clark, 57.5kgSatirically is delighting us ahead of his first start. His two recent trials have given him a solid fitness foundation, and he was just a bit one paced last time so we think he’ll be well-suited by the 1400 metres first-up. Warwick Farm is a lovely track to kick him off at as it’s nice and expansive, and the long home straight will give him plenty of time to balance up and go through his gears. He wore blinkers in his latest trial and he retains them here to ensure he’s nice and focused, Tim will be positive from barrier 6 to try and get him rolling along close to the speed. He’ll certainly improve with race experience and as he continues to get out in trip, but he’s ready to go and we hope to see him run a big race to get his career off to an exciting start.HEARTS AFFAIR, Race 2, 1100m, 3.30pm, T Clark, 55kgHearts Affair is delighting us ahead of her first career start. Her two trials have been encouraging, and she was only beaten a little over a length in her most recent one at Rosehill. These hit outs have given her a good grounding so whilst she’s conceding experience to a couple of rivals she knows her job, and Tim will be positive from barrier 10 to try and work across into a more favourable position to avoid being posted wide in the run. Warwick Farm’s a very fair track and this is a lovely race for her to debut in, so if she gets some luck in running and gives a strong kick on straightening we hope to see her hitting the line strongly to get her career off to an encouraging start.LANCELOT DU LAC, Race 5, 1600m, 5.15pm, A Hyeronimus, 59.5kgLancelot Du Lac went a bit too keenly for his own good at Randwick last time, and in doing so he left himself vulnerable over the concluding stages. However, given he was up significantly in grade he still fought on bravely to finish third and he wasn’t beaten too far in the end so it was still a very creditable effort. He’s dropping back in grade here and he returns to the scene of his most recent win over course and distance, so we know he goes well here. We’ve taken the blinkers off and replaced them with a rubber cross-over noseband to encourage him to settle better, and given he’s up in the weights again he’s reunited with Adam to ensure he carries minimal deadweight. Adam will let him land where he’s comfortable from barrier 6, but the priority will be getting him to settle and travel economically in the run so that he doesn’t leave himself vulnerable late. We know he goes well over this track and trip so he’s got plenty going for him, and whilst he’s getting deep into his preparation he’s showing no signs of having had enough so we expect him to be right there at the finish.