Punters' Post Mortem 9 Dec 2017

The Rosehill track held up well with no bias evident as we saw winners come from everywhere. This was a welcome surprise for punters considering we were there for the sixth consecutive Saturday and were coming off a heavy tack last week. Ascot played similarly as both backmarkers and on pace-runners were given every opportunity.  

It was a different story at Pakenham however where the soft track caused plenty of headaches for punters. The inside lane was a no-go-zone while three or four off the rail seemed like the place to be.

Punters got it right

Punters didn’t miss in the first race at Rosehill with Gongs smashed from openers of $2.40 into a starting price of $1.45. The James Cummings trained filly jumped out in front and made it two wins on the trot in a convincing 1.5L victory, putting her on punters’ radars for Magic Millions.  

The Bjorn Baker trained Test The World was met with good support in the seventh at Rosehill after being backed into $3.80 second favourite at the jump. There was money coming for the mare all day after opening at $6 and punters weren’t disappointed as she managed to edge out the highly rated Bon Amis by 0.2L.   

Punters got it wrong

Mornington was backed off the map in race five at Rosehill from $7 on race morning into a starting price of $3.80. The Chris Waller trained runner was primed for his third up run but was flat in the straight after getting the gun run in transit.

Coming off an impressive fourth in the WA Guineas last start, Gaulois was all the rage in the listed Lee-Steere Classic at Ascot. Backed from $2.80 into $2.10, the colt looked everything like a winner in the final straight as he closed in on the leader, only to run out of gas in the final 200m. 

Track stars

Pounamu gave Perth locals something to cheer about on Saturday after causing an upset to win the Group 1 Kingston Town Classic at Ascot. The Alan Mathews trained runner entered the final straight at the rear of the pack having been three wide for the entire trip and flashed home to beat his more fancied eastern-state rivals.  

Noire has come back in impressive form this preparation, backing up her recent first-up win with another victory on Saturday at Rosehill. Expect connections to be looking for a listed race soon, and if she keeps on improving in this fashion, it’s hard to see them not getting it.

One to forget

The whole meet at Pakenham was one to forget for punters. It's always tough when we get to meetings like this, full of horses with no wet track form and lots of lightly raced runners. The results told the story, with only one winner out of the nine-race card below $9, leaving bookies salivating.

Forgive

Heliosphere was the unlucky runner of the weekend. He was made to work hard in the second race at Rosehill, having spent almost the entire trip three wide with no cover and doing amazingly well to stick on and finish less than a half length behind Sparky Lad. Expect him to be winning a race very soon this preparation.

One to watch

Orcein is definitely one to keep an eye on after he chased Gongs down the Rosehill straight. Expect the colt to be a danger next start when trainer Chris Waller gives him the extra distance that he needs.