The historic Toorak Handicap will once again bring quality racing to the forefront with a stellar field of runners taking on the 1600 metre sprint. Join The Roar from 5:10pm (AEDT) for all the live race updates and results.
He’s Our Rokkii comes into the race as a big favourite, having won his last four races in a row and a good distance that suits his style of ride, especially with the blinkers on now and the drop of weight.
His last win was by over three lengths and his barrier draw is solid for this afternoon’s outing. Rokkii will be a hard one to beat.
Bon Aurum won the Rupert Clarke leading into this race, and quite comfortably as well in a strong field of contenders.
He’s been given extra weight for Toorak though and he’s had an average preparation, so his race might not be as strong as it could be if it comes sluggish out of the barriers trying to deal with the extra weight.
Royal Rapture is well placed to challenge Rokkii for the win if he can continue his recent run of form.
Some strong handicap wins and a string of solid runs has him coming in as a strong favourite among the bookies to finish with a place at the least.
Nine-year-old Jacquinot Bay has had a solid spring campaign so far as well. While not setting the world on fire, a pair of fourth place finishes at the Makybe Diva Stakes and Underwood Stakes have put him in contention for a strong finish today.
He’ll also be dropping about 4 kilograms of added weight from those aforementioned fourth place finishes, so keep a keen eye on Jacquinot Bay when the action starts to heat up.
Thames Court has a good barrier draw to take the pace early and is another horse coming off some solid season form.
A very strong candidate for a place, if not the win, if she can use that start to lead into the final stretch where she excels on this distance.
What are the odds?
He’s Our Rokkii has taken the short priced odds at a handy $3 with Bon Aurum the closest back at $6.
Counterattack, Royal Rapture, Thames Court and Tivaci are all very tight in the betting market at just under ten bucks and all within one and a half dollars of each other.
Moral Victory and Awesome Rock and decent punts for the outside bet if you’ve got some spare change you want to throw around at $13 and $15 respectively.
Jacquinot Bay is by far the best value for money bet out at an astonishing $31 with the bookies. He’s a strong runner and should have his nose up towards the front come the end of the race.
At worst he’s paying a handsome $7.50 for a placing.
Prediction
With six runners paying under ten dollars it’s a tight field for the Toorak Handicap, with plenty of hot favourites and outside chances.
Thames Court and Bon Aurum are looking good leading into the race and should be looking at wrapping up place finishes.
Royal Rapture is an outside chance at flying home for a cheeky win, but it’s He’s Our Rokkii that sits in the driver’s seat on this one.
With the right distance, a string of wins and a nice steady weight, He’s Our Rokkii should take his favourite status all the way to the winners post.
1. He’s Our Rokkii
2. Thames Court
3. Bon Aurum
4. Jacquinot Bay
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