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SENTrack: Andrew O’Toole’s Saturday best bets at Alice Springs (02/11)
Andrew O’Toole • November 11th, 2024 10:26 pm
Racing takes place for the second of three successive weeks in the Red Centre, and another good card of six races, following on from the seven contested last Sunday, will be the order of the day. With 10 riders in attendance – visitors are coming from Darwin, South Australia and Victoria to complement the locals – it promises to be a great day’s racing to coincide with Derby Day at Flemington and Golden Eagle Day at Rosehill Gardens.
The feature event, the $25,000 Ladbrokes Blackbook Handicap, is the last of the day, and while not a big field with only seven acceptors, there are a number of chances in the Benchmark 76 1400m. Hardest to beat looks likely to be the Kerry Petrick-trained Princess Pancakes, who simply does not know how to run a bad race. That said, she has won just one from 11 at the track, but with six seconds as well, she could easily have a better win ratio around the Pioneer Park circuit than she has.
The daughter of Rebel Dane has had two starts in Alice since a successful Kununurra campaign (a win and a second from two starts), and she is knocking on the door, having finished runner-up at those two outings behind Beau Factor. Her last effort, over 1600m, was on 6 October, and dropping back to this trip of 1400m at which she has three wins, three seconds and two thirds from 10 starts, looks ideal. Paul Denton has built up a tremendous association with the mare, and he will take the mount again, and while she has the outside draw to overcome, she is far from one-dimensional and should handle that test with aplomb.
Hardest to beat should be Fantasy Eagle, a last-start winner over this journey in 0-64 grade on 12 October. Will Savage’s charge has returned from a brief let-up in good form, with a third to Beau Factor preceding his latest win. He has the inside draw which is always an advantage from the 1400m start, and Ianish Luximon, who was aboard him for his last winning effort, maintains his association with the son of Zacinto.
Flying Start, from the in-form Greg Connor yard, is another with undeniable claims. He won four starts back on 25 August and has been placed at each of his three starts since. The only query with him is the distance – he has started four times at 1400m for one third – but the winner of over $180,000 in stakes cannot be taken lightly. Lek Maloney’s 2kg claim will bring his weight down to 57kg, and the six-race winner cannot be left out of calculations.
Zasceed disappointed last week after two excellent efforts, so he should be allowed a chance to get back to his best, while Darci Diva, like Flying Start, is stepping up in trip but should be watched. He is trained by Barry Cooke, who was in the winner’s circle last week with Chief White Sock.
The first on the card is the Bluedust NT Handicap, a three and four-year-old 0-66 event over 1200m. It looks a race in two between last week’s winners Floral Code and Augusta Moon, but keep an eye on Sneaky Freddy, a newcomer to the Terry Gillett stable who did his former racing in Far North Queensland. Gillett has had good success recently with a number of horses that have joined him from the Sunshine State, including Altar Boy, Floral Code and the like.
The weather in the Red Centre has been perfect just recently, and another lovely fine day is expected today. The official forecast reads: Sunny. Light winds becoming east to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the morning then becoming light in the evening. The temperature is forecast to reach 37 degrees during the day, with an overnight low of 17 degrees.
The first on the seven-race card gets underway at 1.44pm (NT time), which is 3.14pm on the eastern seaboard, while the last is timed to go at 5.05pm (NT time), or 6.35pm in New South Wales and Victoria.
### BEST BETS
__R1 # 2 FLORAL CODE__
Bolted in here six days ago over 1100m in class 2 company. Ran a vastly superior time to Augusta Moon, who looks his chief rival here in this 3 and 4yo event. Will carry just 1.5kg more than he did last time out, and now that he has a win on the board, can go on with it. Drawn nicely in barrier two and will take plenty of beating in the opener.
__R5 # 4 MAGIC DEFENSE__
Steps up significantly in grade here after winning her maiden and then a BM54 at her last two starts. Drops 1.5kg in weight from her last effort, when she downed Frankfurt, who came out and won a week ago. Looks a promising type and the Kerry Petrick/Paul Denton combination needs no introduction. Can make it three on the bounce.
__R6 # 2 PRINCESS PANCAKES__
Tremendously consistent daughter of Rebel Dane, who has finished out of the first two just once in her last nine starts. Has chased home the smart Beau Factor at her two most recent efforts, and back to 1400m, a trip she has won over three times, will suit ideally. Drawn the outside but in this smallish field, shouldn’t make much difference. Can complete a good day for the Petrick/Denton duo.
### SELECTIONS
RACE 1 – 2, 1, 5, 3
RACE 2 – 1, 5, 2, 4
RACE 3 – 1, 7, 9, 3
RACE 4 – 1, 2, 4, 7
RACE 5 – 4, 1, 2, 3
RACE 6 – 2, 4, 1, 5
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
*__What's gambling really costing you? Set a deposit limit.__ For free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit [gamblinghelponline.org.au](https://www.gamblinghelponline.org.au/)*
The feature event, the $25,000 Ladbrokes Blackbook Handicap, is the last of the day, and while not a big field with only seven acceptors, there are a number of chances in the Benchmark 76 1400m. Hardest to beat looks likely to be the Kerry Petrick-trained Princess Pancakes, who simply does not know how to run a bad race. That said, she has won just one from 11 at the track, but with six seconds as well, she could easily have a better win ratio around the Pioneer Park circuit than she has.
The daughter of Rebel Dane has had two starts in Alice since a successful Kununurra campaign (a win and a second from two starts), and she is knocking on the door, having finished runner-up at those two outings behind Beau Factor. Her last effort, over 1600m, was on 6 October, and dropping back to this trip of 1400m at which she has three wins, three seconds and two thirds from 10 starts, looks ideal. Paul Denton has built up a tremendous association with the mare, and he will take the mount again, and while she has the outside draw to overcome, she is far from one-dimensional and should handle that test with aplomb.
Hardest to beat should be Fantasy Eagle, a last-start winner over this journey in 0-64 grade on 12 October. Will Savage’s charge has returned from a brief let-up in good form, with a third to Beau Factor preceding his latest win. He has the inside draw which is always an advantage from the 1400m start, and Ianish Luximon, who was aboard him for his last winning effort, maintains his association with the son of Zacinto.
Flying Start, from the in-form Greg Connor yard, is another with undeniable claims. He won four starts back on 25 August and has been placed at each of his three starts since. The only query with him is the distance – he has started four times at 1400m for one third – but the winner of over $180,000 in stakes cannot be taken lightly. Lek Maloney’s 2kg claim will bring his weight down to 57kg, and the six-race winner cannot be left out of calculations.
Zasceed disappointed last week after two excellent efforts, so he should be allowed a chance to get back to his best, while Darci Diva, like Flying Start, is stepping up in trip but should be watched. He is trained by Barry Cooke, who was in the winner’s circle last week with Chief White Sock.
The first on the card is the Bluedust NT Handicap, a three and four-year-old 0-66 event over 1200m. It looks a race in two between last week’s winners Floral Code and Augusta Moon, but keep an eye on Sneaky Freddy, a newcomer to the Terry Gillett stable who did his former racing in Far North Queensland. Gillett has had good success recently with a number of horses that have joined him from the Sunshine State, including Altar Boy, Floral Code and the like.
The weather in the Red Centre has been perfect just recently, and another lovely fine day is expected today. The official forecast reads: Sunny. Light winds becoming east to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the morning then becoming light in the evening. The temperature is forecast to reach 37 degrees during the day, with an overnight low of 17 degrees.
The first on the seven-race card gets underway at 1.44pm (NT time), which is 3.14pm on the eastern seaboard, while the last is timed to go at 5.05pm (NT time), or 6.35pm in New South Wales and Victoria.
### BEST BETS
__R1 # 2 FLORAL CODE__
Bolted in here six days ago over 1100m in class 2 company. Ran a vastly superior time to Augusta Moon, who looks his chief rival here in this 3 and 4yo event. Will carry just 1.5kg more than he did last time out, and now that he has a win on the board, can go on with it. Drawn nicely in barrier two and will take plenty of beating in the opener.
__R5 # 4 MAGIC DEFENSE__
Steps up significantly in grade here after winning her maiden and then a BM54 at her last two starts. Drops 1.5kg in weight from her last effort, when she downed Frankfurt, who came out and won a week ago. Looks a promising type and the Kerry Petrick/Paul Denton combination needs no introduction. Can make it three on the bounce.
__R6 # 2 PRINCESS PANCAKES__
Tremendously consistent daughter of Rebel Dane, who has finished out of the first two just once in her last nine starts. Has chased home the smart Beau Factor at her two most recent efforts, and back to 1400m, a trip she has won over three times, will suit ideally. Drawn the outside but in this smallish field, shouldn’t make much difference. Can complete a good day for the Petrick/Denton duo.
### SELECTIONS
RACE 1 – 2, 1, 5, 3
RACE 2 – 1, 5, 2, 4
RACE 3 – 1, 7, 9, 3
RACE 4 – 1, 2, 4, 7
RACE 5 – 4, 1, 2, 3
RACE 6 – 2, 4, 1, 5
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
*__What's gambling really costing you? Set a deposit limit.__ For free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit [gamblinghelponline.org.au](https://www.gamblinghelponline.org.au/)*
