The finale for Group 1 racing in South Australia is on Saturday, with the running of The Goodwood over 1200m.
The pinnacle of the SA Racing carnival, this year's edition is sure to be a fascinating watch.
Track Conditions
The rail moves out to the 6m mark for the final meeting of the carnival.
Over the last few weeks, the inside lanes have been the inferior ground and that pattern looks set to continue. Expect the middle lanes to be the best part of the track again.
Don’t be surprised to see horses coming right down the far outside rail later in the day.
The track is currently rated a Soft 5 and there’ll be some rain around on Friday and early Saturday.
Depending on how much water hits the track, I am working on a rating of a Soft 5-6. A moderate headwind in the straight will see horses running-on all day.
Morphettville Race 8 – The Goodwood (1200m)
The Map
There will be Decent tempo in this clash, with Front Page and Seradess set to push forward from outside draws.
Savatoxl is a natural leader and you can expect Caitlin Jones to either hold the lead or take a sit depending on that outside pressure.
In his last career race, look for Free Of Debt to push for a spot in front, while Royal Merchant and General Beau will attempt to carve accross and settle in the first couple of pairs.
Zapateo has drawn the outside gate and Damian Oliver will look to to get a cart into the race off those runners.
The favourite, Lofty Strike, will settle back and should find himself in a three wide trail just off midfield.
The Favourite
Lofty Strike is the deserved favourite after that mightily impressive run in the Newmarket behind In Secret, where he charged home for a close second.
He didn’t quite handle the heavy track behind I Wish I Win in the TJ Smith, with Everest champ and Doomben 10,000 winner Giga Kick finishing second in that clash.
Lofty Strike has been given a nice let up leading into this and the 3YO Colt is looking to land Julius Sandhu his first Group 1 winner here.
Expect him to get a brilliant run behind a decent tempo and as long as it doesn’t rain too much, he looks very hard to beat.
There's plenty of each way chances in this field and the horse on the second line of betting, Zapateo, looks the clear danger to the favourite.
She had next to no luck in the Sangster, when being held up at a crucial stage before flashing home for a gutsy third. With clear room, she probably wins that Group 1.
She's drawn the outside barrier, which means she'll need luck early.
However if Oli manages to settle in a nice spot with cover, she looks a huge danger.
A horse that wasn’t targetting this race initially, Another Award now looms as a good value chance.
She has had a good prep and was rewarded with a second placing in the Sangster, after making an impressive sustained run to the line.
She has a tricky draw here, where she will be buried away back of midfield on the fence. However, if the gaps appear she’s speedy enough to be in this.
I give Royal Merchant and Savatoxl both value hopes in this race, but the horse I want to include in my numbers is Frankie Pinot.
He has been thereabouts in his career and his highlight was running fourth in this race last year.
His run on the last of the Bool carnival when the track was absolutely bottomless, was full of merit and he will have taken plenty of benefit from that run.
Expect him to settle in the last couple, before charging home down the middle.
An each way chance to add to the multiples.
1st Lofty Strike
2nd Zapateo
3rd Another Award
4th Frankie Pinot
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