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The sprinters line up in today’s Group 1 Galaxy over the dashing distance of 1100m in an open betting affair and what will be the race of the day. Join our coverage here on The Roar in the lead up to the 4.10pm AEDT jump time.
Although today’s field has been unable to draw Black Caviar due to her likely to have had to carry roughly 62kg under handicap condition, the field is still of high calibre.
Her arch nemesis Hay List had been allocated top weight until he was withdrawn from the race on Wednesday under vet’s advice.
Without Australia’s two best sprinters, there are about ten horses in this field that all can make a case for winning today.
Sea Siren tops the weights and is resuming first up after a disappointing performance in the Hong Kong International Sprint in December.
The John O’Shea-trained daughter of Fastnet Rock has been emerging as Australia’s best young sprinter after winning the Group 1 Manikato Stakes in the spring before running second in the Group 1 Patinack Farm Classic.
Young horses often struggle to adapt to international conditions and Sea Siren’s run in Hong Kong should be forgiven.
She normally runs well first up, having never missed out on the placings when resuming and has been weighted very well with just 56kg on her back.
Snitzerland will start the favourite today after an impressive victory in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes. On that day, the Snitzel filly comfortably accounted for Hay List before finishing three lengths ahead of Decision Time.
The Gerald Ryan trained filly set a new course record in the Challenge and looks to have come back this preparation in fine form and ready to propel herself in the sprinting ranks towards Black Caviar.
She would have finished five lengths ahead of the field in the Challenge but a late burst by Decision Time drew the winning margin down to three.
Clarry Conners-trained Decision Time ran for the first time in almost two years in the Challenge and surprised everyone with just how well he recovered from injury.
The Foreplay gelding is best known for running second in the 2010 Golden Slipper behind Crystal Lily and ran admirably against Snitzerland, carrying 4.5kg more a fortnight ago.
Conners has been in the media spruiking his gelding as the most underrated in this field.
If Conners was correct in saying Decision Time is still far from being 100 per cent, than the improvement over the coming weeks could see him claim a big race soon.
Barrier 12 will hurt but he’ll flash home late.
Another fancied runner to have been hit hard at barrier draw is Bel Sprinter. The Jason Warren trained gelding is running first up today but she has not lost a race in her four previous first up runs.
The five-year-old is a classic one and done horse who blazes in his first run but can never maintain his fitness throughout an entire season.
This is the first time he has resumed at Group 1 level so it is difficult to gauge exactly how fit he is this preparation.
Drawing barrier 15 had severely damaged Bel Sprinter’s chances here because he likes to race from the front and with the big field here and he’ll need to spend a lot of juice early.
The barrier draw has been most harsh to Tiger Tees who has drawn the widest in barrier 18, but this has not deterred the punters who believe the five year old can overcome it.
Tiger Tees ran fifth in the Challenge behind Snitzerland but in that race, Tiger Tees carried 4.5kg more than the filly to flash home late and finish just 3.5 lengths behind Snitzerland.
Trained by Jospeh Pride, Tiger Tees would be in single figures if it weren’t for drawing the car park.
The gelding runs best early in his preparation and running second up, he has returned three wins from four attempts.
He has been weighted very well today to be a serious chance but like Bel Sprinter, he likes running at the front of the field.
Expect Tiger Tees to dart across to the front and lead the field as they enter the straight.
Of the rest, Pampelonne has an excellent first up record and has form against very highly credentialed sprinters. Glen Boss on board with very little weight will make him a chance.
The filly Isabella Snowflake has worked her way through the grades to race at Group 1 level in just her sixth start.
She has excellent form in Melbourne but this will be her first clockwise run and under those circumstances, a place is more likely than a win.
This is a much wider betting affair than first though. Snitzerland and Sea Siren are the class runners in the field but several others have been weighted so generously that they become winning chances.
Tips – Alfred Chan
1. Snitzerland
2. Decision Time
3. Sea Siren
4. Pamepelonne
Justin Cinque
1. Sea Siren
2. Snitzerland
3. Pampelonne
4. Decision Time
Andrew Hawkins
1. Decision Time
2. Isabella Snowflake
3. Pampelonne
4. Dystopia
Cameron Rose
1. Howmuchdoyouloveme
2. Unpretentious
3. Title
4. Snitzerland
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