NSW Saturday racing heads south to Kembla Grange for a cracking 10 race card, highlighted by the $1 Million The Gong.
There's are up to 8-15mm of showers predicted on race day, which is likely to push the track towards a Soft 7 or Heavy 8.
The rail is situated in the true position and at this set-up, punters should expect a fair track.
Kembla Grange Race 3 #8 Dragonstone $2.80
I’ve got a lot of time for this 3YO gelding.
He showed us in his first prep that he has above average ability, producing some sharp trials before knocking off his maiden at his second career start.
He possesses a smart turn of foot and gets through all types of going.
He finished his first prep with an enormous run from the back, recording a huge L4 figure of -9.9. It was an effort that saw him run the meeting's fastest last 600m (34.46) and last 400m (22.84) on a day where it was near impossible to win from off the pace.
He has had one trial leading into this prep off the back of a 16-week spell. That trial was great, closing off sharply back towards the rail where he did his best work late. He's a small horse and there isn’t much of him, but he makes up for it with his turn of speed.
He's well suited from barrier 7 over 1000m, handles the wet with ease and gets in super light with 51kg taking on the older horses for the first time.
There looks to be a stack of speed up front, which will allow him to run over the top of them.
He is a very smart 3YO and I'm keen to see him back at the races.
Kembla Grange Race 8 #6 Nudge $21 / $6.00
The man with the golden touch, Chris Waller, teams up with Jason Collett on Nudge, who comes into this year's edition of The Gong fourth-up .
The mare does her best work over the mile (6:2-1-1) and she has one win and a second from three starts at Kembla.
Her effort first-up at Caulfield was full of merit when she finished 0.3 lengths behind Dirty Thoughts in third.
Her following two starts were okay, but she's clearly been looking for the longer trip and she gets that here.
She draws well in barrier 6 to get a nice run behind what looks set to be a genuine tempo.
Looks a great each way play.
Kembla Grange Race 9 Tip #5 Wheelhouse $7.00
This talented gelding hasn't had the best of luck in his 4YO campaign to date.
First-up over the unsuited 1200m in the Group 3 Sydney Stakes, he got shuffled way back in the field and only started to hit top gear once the race was over.
Also going against him that day, there was a hint of bias to the inside lanes making those out wide struggle to run on in evenly run races.
At his next start, he contested a Listed race at Hawksbury as an odds-on favourite.
The Heavy 9 track was badly chopped out by race 7 and once again, it was hard to make ground. Wheelhouse tried his heart out but fell just short in second place.
For this BM88 contest he strikes a very winnable field on an improving Kembla track.
From the wide barrier, jockey Hugh Bowman will look to apply early pressure and hold a forward position. With a soft track in play, I suspect that it will be difficult to make up ground from the rear.
Hugh knows Wheelhouse very well, piloting him to multiple placings and his only win. If he can work his magic and get Wheelhouse into a positive position, I believe Wheelhouse has the natural ability to cover this field.
The current $7 on offer is enormous value and I am confident he can run a big race peaking third-up.
For a list of all the tipsters who have posted Kembla Grange Tips for today's races, checkout the dedicated page at theGreatTipOff.com.