Just two weeks on from The Everest we are treated to another mouth-watering sprint race in Australia. Read on for our Manikato Stakes Preview!
The rail will be in the True position for both the Manikato meeting Friday and Cox Plate on Saturday.
The track will race perfectly on Friday with warm conditions expected and the Strathayr turf has a nice give in it for horses who appreciate cut out of the ground.
2017 Manikato Stakes Betting Odds
Odds grid for the Manikato above courtesy of Punters.com.au
Vega Magic was enormous in The Everest and has been smashed all the way through betting for this race. After drawing soft (barrier 3) the money continued and he is the one to beat. Getting very, very short now though!
In Her Time has been such a quality, underrated mare but the market hasn’t missed her this time. She ran blistering time in The Everest consolation race a fortnight ago. Has she peaked or does she have another big performance in her?
Chautauqua loves the Valley and the cut out of the track the surface provides him. He will need luck but rail true and a genuine tempo will help his case!
English is capable, she was only ok in The Everest however also enjoys being able to get her foot into the turf.
Hey Doc stays fresh and at 1200m because there is not a single decent 1400m race in the carnival (WHY!!!)
2017 Manikato Stakes Speed Map
The map is relatively simple (see below). Vega Magic does look the likely leader depending on pressure levels from either Hey Doc or Malaguerra. Confident he can hold out the rest of them.
Super Cash will need to jump well and push forward to have any chance while the rest all fall into spots as expected.
Malaguerra and or Hey Doc could easily go back from their wide draws which would only further play into the hands of short-priced favourite Vega Magic.
Key Form Races
The obvious one is The Everest.
The Big Grey ran well, considering conditions while Vega Magic was enormous after copping a bizarre ride from The Rat.
The last two editions of the Manikato Stakes have featured many of the horses in this year’s field and were both night meetings with the Rail in the True position.
A few other notable races worth checking out are the 2017 Moir Stakes (similar quality sprint at this track), The 2017 Goodwood featuring Hey Doc and Vega Magic, The Everest consolation featuring In Her Time and the 2016 Australia Stakes where Malaguerra won at the Valley over 1200m
2017 Manikato Stakes Verdict
The market is very tight and most of the overlays are minor in terms of percentage discrepancies.
Chautauqua is a very big price given how well he has run here in the past. He’s a hard horse to follow but happy to play him on the 1 x 3 basis here with Dunn going back on top.
Playing some exotics (trifector’s and first-fours) focusing on the following six horses: Vega Magic (best winning chance clearly), Rock Magic, Voodoo Lad, English, Chautauqua and Hey Doc.
Leaving the rest out as they are current negative overlays on our ratings.