Gai's Tip Sheet
SATURDAY 6th JUNE - RANDWICKRail Position: +3M EntireREBEL ROYAL, Race 1, 1100m, 11.00am, A Hyeronimus, 56kg Rebel Royal is delighting us ahead of his first start. He has had two trials to prepare him for this race, winning his first at Randwick before finishing a close fourth at Rosehill last time and these two hit outs have given him a solid fitness base and educational grounding for 1100 metres first-up. Not only is Randwick his home track but it is also a very expansive and inviting circuit where we have a lot of success, so it’s a lovely place for him to kickstart his career. He’s drawn to the outside in barrier 10, but Adam will be positive from there to try and work across into a handy position where he can make his own luck on or close to the lead. He's taking on several previous winners which is never easy to do, but he’s shown us plenty of ability thus far and we expect him run a competitive race for you to get his career off to an exciting start.COLLECT YOUR CASH, Race 9, 1600m, 3.40pm, W Costin, 53.5kg Collect Your Cash is pleasing us ahead of his first-up run. He’s had three trials so he’s as fit as we can get him, and he’s kicking off over a mile as he’d be vulnerable to speedier types over anything shorter. He’s won each of his first-up runs since arriving from New Zealand so whilst they were easier races than this we know he goes well fresh which adds confidence, and he loves wet tracks so any further rain won’t dent his chance. Winona will be positive from barrier 19 to try and work across into a more favourable position and she gets a great tune out of our runners, so with just 53.5kg on his back we hope he’ll be able to give this a good shake.SATURDAY 6th JUNE - EAGLE FARMRail Position: +2M EntireSURFIN' BIRD, Race 6, 1600m, 2.38pm, T Clark, 57kg Surfin’ Bird ran another brave race to finish just 1.53 lengths from the winner at Scone last time. She’s taken plenty of benefit from that and she’s adjusted to life in Queensland like a duck to water, so she’s loving the change of scenery. She’s stretching out to the mile third-up here which we’re confident will bring about further improvement, and we know she handles sting out of the ground so any further rain probably wouldn’t harm her chance. Barrier 15 does make life tricky so Tim’s going to have to think on his feet and ride the race as he finds it, but hopefully she can get across from there and find a bit of cover in the run. She’s a talented mare who’s still progressing, and whilst she’s taking on some smart and highly rated horses we think she’s got what it takes to rise to the challenge and make her presence known.SATURDAY 6th JUNE - NEWCASTLERail Position: TrueZEPHYR SONG, Race 2, 1400m, 12.30pm, Z Wadick, 58kg Zephyr Song ran another honest race at Kembla last week. It was her first run in Sydney and she acquitted herself creditably, but she was just a bit one paced where it mattered in the final furlong. She’s on a seven-day backup here but she’s fourth-up in her preparation, and she’s come through last week’s run in great shape so we’re confident she will handle it. The step up to 1400 metres is a positive and we’ve put blinkers back on to try and sharpen her up further. Zac will once again try and get her travelling towards the head of affairs to ensure it’s an evenly run race, and we’re hopeful she can build upon what she achieved last week and feature in the finish here.AUDACIOUSLY FRANK, Race 3, 1400m, 1.05pm, Z Wadick, 59kg Audaciously Frank is pleasing us ahead of his first start. He hasn’t set the world alight in his two trials this time in, however he was sticking on nicely enough through the line at Gosford last time and that trip away from home has done him the world of good. 1400 metres is a lovely starting point as he’d be vulnerable to speedier types over anything shorter, and Zac will endeavour to roll forward from barrier 11 to try and put him in the race and make his own luck accordingly. Newcastle’s a fair and expansive track so it’s a lovely place for him to debut at, and he’ll appreciate the long home straight as it’ll give him every opportunity to go through his gears and reach topflight. His trial form hasn’t blown us away, but he’s starting off at a realistic level and horses can improve a lot under race day conditions. We will have a much clearer line on him after this outing, and we hope to see him run a big race to get his career off to an encouraging start.SUNDAY 7th JUNE - WYONGRail Position: +3M EntireSTATE SECRET, Race 3, 1200m, 12.56pm, R Bayliss, 59kg State Secret is pleasing us ahead of his first-up run. He hasn’t set the world alight in his two trials this time in, however he was sticking on nicely enough through the line at Gosford last time and that trip away from home has done him the world of good. He went close to winning when he debuted over 1200 metres so he’s shown that he can be competitive over this distance, but we do expect him to improve as he gets over further deeper into his preparation. Regan will endeavour to roll forward from barrier 13 to try and put him in the race and make his own luck accordingly, but a wide gate on this tight turning track can make life tricky so he may have to think on his feet and get some cover if it looks like he’ll be posted wide in the run. He’s starting off at a realistic level, and we hope to see him closing off strongly to get his preparation off to an encouraging start.MISS FARNAN, Race 6, 1200m, 2.50pm, R King, 59.5kg Miss Farnan gave us such a thrill when winning at Hawkesbury last time. She’s bounced through the run in tremendous shape and she’s full of confidence, so we couldn’t be happier with her ahead of this outing. This race is restricted to her own sex which is always our preference where possible, and it’s a lovely steppingstone for her after winning a Class 1 Handicap. She’s drawn to do no work from barrier 1 so she should be able to find the front and control things to suit herself once again, and the way she found the line over 1100 metres suggests 1200 metres is within range, especially around this tight turning track. She ticks a lot of boxes and we are confident she will be hard to beat once again.HOLD THE DOOR, Race 8, 2025m, 4.10pm, R Bayliss, 56.5kg Hold The Door underperformed when upped to city grade at Kensington last time. That level is finding him out at present, so he’s dropping back in grade and Wyong’s a tight turning track which we expect him to cope well with over this trip. The step up to 2000 metres promises to suit, and we’ve added a cross-over noseband to the tongue tie to further assist his breathing. There aren’t too many 2000 metre races at the provincials hence it’s a full and competitive field, so it won’t be easy but we’re hopeful he can bounce back and find his way back into the Winner’s Circle once again.MONDAY 8th JUNE - CANTERBURYRail Position: TrueAIRWORTHY, Race 3, 1250m, 1.25pm, Z Wadick (2kg), 61.5kg Airworthy is delighting us ahead of this run. He ran a magnificent race when finishing third when first-up over course and distance a fortnight ago, and he just peaked on his run in the final 100 metres. The data from his recent gallops tells us he’s a lot fitter ahead of this second-up run which is a big positive, so we’re confident that there’s plenty of improvement to come. He sticks to 1250 metres for now before we explore stretching him out over slightly further, and Zac’s a talented apprentice who takes an extremely valuable 2kg off his back so he’s carrying 1.5kg fewer here than last time. He’s drawn a slightly wide barrier in 11 so Zac will try to get across from there to land in a favourable position on or close to the rail, and if he gets some luck in running we see no reason why he won’t build upon his first-up run and prove hard to beat.FORMAT, Race 5, 1900m, 2.35pm, A Hyeronimus, 57.5kg Format ran creditably when resuming over 1550 metres at this track. He wasn’t beaten too far at the line, but he perhaps usurpingly just found a few of them too slick for him over the concluding stages. He’s taken good benefit from that run so he strips fitter here, and he’s going to appreciate stretching out to 1900 metres so that has the potential to bring about improvement. Adam will let him land where he’s comfortable from barrier 5 and we’ve taken the blinkers off as we’re not convinced he needs them as he gets out in trip, so with natural improvement forthcoming we hope to see him in the finish.
