Newcastle plays host to Jungle Juice Cup Day, with 8 competitive races set for decision over the course of the afternoon.
The rain looks to be clearing in the harbour city, which will ensure a track upgrade from the current Heavy 8.
The rail is out 9m the entire circuit and at this set-up, I expect leaders to be favoured early in the day before things even out later in the card.
Newcastle Race 4 Tip #5 Yuralla Boy $6.60
This Dreamscape gelding saves his best efforts for this track (5:3-0-0) and is proven on rain affected surfaces.
Two starts back at this track, he won in fine style over 2300m in a BM64 before heading to town to tackle a BM72 where he finished 2.9 lengths back.
In this small field, expect him to sit forward in the run and be poised to strike on the turn. If the favourite Unamerican shows signs of weakness in the straight, Yuralla Boy will get the first shot at him and could easily cause an upset.
The favourite ticks plenty of boxes, but loses the services of Rachel King and is stepping up in class so the $1.45 looks far too short.
Newcastle Race 6 Tip #2 Hit The High Note $4.85
This lightly raced four-year-old arrives here fourth-up following a 51-day freshen and is rock-hard-fit.
She's well in with the 3kg claim for Dylan Gibbons, is proven on rain affected going and maps well.
From barrier 4, expect her to sit just behind leaders with cover before peeling off them to produce a strong finish.
On paper this looks kike a weak race and while she's no superstar, she ticks plenty of boxes and looks value in this small field.