Gai's Tip Sheet
SATURDAY 21st AUGUST - SANDOWNRail Position: +5M EntireFEAR NO EVIL - Race 2, 1.05pm, 1400m, J Childs, 59kgFear No Evil raced a little flat second-up at Flemington, but that’s not altogether unusual after a big first-up effort. Importantly, he’s come through it in great shape and he hasn’t put a foot wrong over the last three weeks so hopefully this additional time between runs is what he needed to get him back to his peak. He sticks to 1400 metres again here as it appears to be his optimal trip for now, and he’s got half a kilo less on his back than last time which isn’t much but it all adds up. Jordan will utilise his early speed to try and get across from barrier 9 and make his own luck accordingly, and hopefully he can steal an easy sectional or two mid-race. He is extremely effective on wet tracks so the Heavy 10 doesn't concern us one bit, and if it means there's a lot of scratchings and other horses are inconvenienced by it then we see no reason why he won't be able to slip the field at the top of the straight and give them all something to catch.SATURDAY 21st AUGUST - RANDWICKRail Position: TrueSTARDOM - Race 6, 2.35pm, 1100m, R King, 53kgStardom is delighting us ahead of her return. Her two trials have been fantastic, and she’s retained a bit of residual fitness after racing in Queensland in May so she’s coming into this race as fit as we can get her. Her form shows that she tends to need a run to hit her straps, but this is a lovely starting point for her against her own sex and 1100 metres is a lovely distance that will suit her well. She’s drawn well in barrier 3 and Rachel knows how to ride our horses effectively, so she’ll let her roll forward from there and land where she’s comfortable in the run. She’s down at the foot of the weights which is another positive, so whilst she has a bit to find with those rated her superior she’s ready to rock and roll and we think she can make her presence felt.AGRARIAN GIRL - Race 7, 3.15pm, 1200m, T Clark, 55kgAgrarian Girl is in brilliant order ahead of her return. She performed at a high level as a two year old, winning a Listed race on debut before placing second in the Group 2 Reisling Stakes behind the talented Chayan. She then had a decent spell which has enabled her to mature and develop further, so whilst there’s always a bit of a question mark about how horses train on from two to three all the signs we’ve seen from her thus far are positive. Her two trials this time in have been brilliant, and they’ve got her fitness to where it needs to be ahead of this outing. She’s kicking off against her own age and sex which is always our preference, and this is a tried-and-true pathway that we’ve had plenty of success with over the years. She’s got a lot of natural speed, so Tim will let her roll forward from barrier 7 and she maps to lead so Tim should be able to control things to suit himself. This is a very competitive race to kick off in but she more than deserves her place in the lineup, and we see no reason why she won’t be right there at the finish.BY CHOICE - Race 7, 3.15pm, 1200m, R King, 55kgBy Choice is in brilliant order ahead of her return. She performed at a high level as a two year old and was a model of consistency, winning on debut before placing in multiple Stakes races. She then had a decent spell which has enabled her to mature and develop further, so whilst there’s always a bit of a question mark about how horses train on from two to three all the signs we’ve seen from her thus far are positive. Her two trials at Rosehill this time in have been brilliant, and they’ve got her fitness to where it needs to be ahead of this outing. Although she showed a goood turn of foot over those short distances, we don't see her really hitting her stride on raceday until she gets out to 1400 metres and beyond. She’s kicking off against her own age and sex which is always our preference, and this is a tried-and-true pathway that we’ve had plenty of success with over the years. She’s got natural gate speed but she doesn’t map to lead, so Rachel will let her roll forward from barrier 8 and settle where she can get her travelling in a comfortable rhythm. This is a very competitive race to kick off in but she more than deserves her place in the lineup, and we see no reason why she won’t be right there at the finish.REACHIN' OUT - Race 7, 3.15pm, 1200m, R Bayliss, 55kgReachin’ Out is training very well ahead of her return. She was an impressive winner on debut in March and whilst she didn’t build upon that in the competitive Group 2 Percy Sykes Stakes, it was a big jump in grade and we’ve certainly not lost any faith in her. She had a decent spell after that run which has enabled her to mature and develop further, so whilst there’s always a bit of a question mark about how horses train on from two to three all the signs we’ve seen from her thus far are positive. Her two trials at Rosehill this time in have been encouraging, and they’ve got her fitness to where it needs to be ahead of this outing. She’s kicking off against her own age and sex which is always our preference, and this is a tried-and-true pathway that we’ve had plenty of success with over the years. She maps to settle off the speed, so Regan will let her find her feet and get her travelling in a comfortable rhythm. This is a very competitive race to kick off in but she relished a soft track on debut so any further rain wouldn’t concern us as it might disadvantage some of her key rivals, and we hope she can give this a good shake.SOVEREIGN HILL - Race 10, 5.05pm, 1200m, A Hyeronimus, 60kgSovereign Hill raced wide without cover when resuming at Rosehill and was then crowded for room in the final furlong, so you can put a line through that run as he’s a lot better than he was able to show. He’s taken good improvement from it so he strips fitter here, and he’s going to be well suited by the step up to 1200 metres. He’s drawn a much better barrier in 4 and he maps to race just off the speed, so Adam should be able to get him into a lovely position and conserve energy mid-race. He’s done everything right at home between runs and we know he’s capable at this level, so we expect him to take a big step forward here and be challenging at the finish.SATURDAY 21st AUGUST - NEWCASTLERail Position: +11M EntireCAVIAR- Race 8, 4.50pm, 1400m, Z Wadick, 59kgCaviar ran encouragingly to finish third first-up at Gosford. He got a little further back in the run than ideal, but he stuck on well to the line and he’s going to relish this step up to 1400 metres. The bigger track is also another big positive as it’ll play to his strengths much more than the tight turning circuit at Gosford, and Zac will be positive early from barrier 7 to try and land in a prominent position. He’s open to plenty of improvement second-up under more suitable conditions, and we’ll be disappointed if he’s not in the finish.SUNDAY 22nd AUGUST - GOULBURNRail Position: TrueVAN HOVEN- Race 1, 12.45pm, 1400m, W Costin, 59kgVan Hoven is delighting us ahead of his first start. We’ve all been very patient with him but it appears to have been worthwhile, because his two trials this time in have been nothing short of excellent. He’s a horse who’s going to get over ground in time, so 1400 metres is a lovely starting point for him as he’d be vulnerable to speedier types over anything shorter and Winona will endeavour to roll forward from barrier 10 to try and put him in the race and make his own luck accordingly. Goulburn’s a lovely track to kick him off at because it’s expansive and very fair, and whilst he’s conceding race experience to some key rivals we expect to see him run a very big race to get his career off to an exciting start.
