3 minute read

An outstanding Run To The Rose headlines a bumper card at Rosehill on Saturday.

No Group One racing in Sydney this weekend but there may as well be with an excellent edition of The Run To The Rose, featuring Storm Boy second-up off the dominant fresh win.

We had Storm Boy running a new peak rating there of 118 and it is something the others would do well to catch. Others have similar ratings at two but have to come back and produce their best at three. The knock for Storm Boy, perhaps, is far more pressure here, but I think high pressure should suit him. Evens or thereabouts looks a touch skinny, and shorter than that for Joliestar in the Sheraco also doesn't provide much opportunity. 

For a best we look deeper and see the Group 2 Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) as an opporunity to take on topweight Celestial Legend. A Randwick Guineas and Doncaster winner resuming, he's obviously got the class, but an inside draw over a trip that I think is a fair bit short of his best, with 59kg, likely to be back and buried on a fast deck - there are enough knocks.

To oppose those knocks we look at the opposites and instead turn to Whinchat, who gets in on the minimum weight here and is likely to lead. His ratings last time in where he won 3/4 progressed nicely, and the R&S ratings make him an 110 horse, some seven pounds off Celestial Legend, yet we get six kilograms off him. We do need a couple of scratchings but if he sneaks in I think he'll take plenty of catching.

Each way odds appeal for Whinchat, as they do for Coastwatch in the same race who strung together some strong performances at the end of last campaign once he got going. He was off a very long spell there and should have plenty of residual fitness with two solid trials under the belt. 

For the other play we'll roll back to Race 5 where again we need one more scratching but should get it and allow High Dandy to sneak into the field. He's won both starts this time in, leading at a strong gallop at Canterbury last time off a dominant fresh win, doing enough to hold on for a tough victory. 

He showed decent promise in his three-year-old campaign and while drawn wide, there isn't really any speed engaged here so he should just roll to the front again. Happy to have him favourite over Vivy Air who hasn't really taken the next step and maps poorly again.

Sydney Specials

Bet of the day: Race 9 #15 Whinchat at $5.50
& #7 Coastwatch at $23
Also backing: Race 5 #17 High Dandy at $4.80