3 minute read

The Sydney Specials for the fourth straight week will again head to the last event for the best of the day.

After being on the Chris Waller bandwagon for the past three weeks with Paret winning twice and Kaonic once, the final event of the day at Randwick again shapes as a happy hunting ground for the Sydney Specials.

The Benchmark 94 Heineken 3 Handicap (1400m) profiles as the race where UK import Best Of Days opens his winning account in Australia.

The son of Azamour was luckless in his Australian debut at the course and distance a fortnight ago, held up badly for a majority of the straight in a Benchmark 89 won by Kaonic.

The Godolphin runner eventually found clear room inside the final 100m and gave a glimpse of what he was capable of, winding up into seventh.

First up off a trip across the world and a generous spell, the James Cummings-trained import would have no doubt taken plenty of benefit from the run.

While he will be better over more ground, he is a UK Group 2 winner over the mile and was also Group placed over this trip at York in the 2016 Acomb Stakes.

He appears to have a substantial class edge over this field which has already lost a key piece of depth in the form of Muraaqeb.

With the rail out a whopping ten metres from the mile to the winning post, there is some concern surrounding get back horses at the meeting.

Best Of Days is admittedly one of those however that query should be negligible by the final race of the day.

There looks to be solid pace up front on paper which Best Of Days can rattle home off with Show A Star, Almost Court and Best Guess expected to be prominent.

Furthermore, even if the track does prove to be leaderish, often by latter events on the card a ‘go forward at all costs’ mentality can occur because of this along with an unsustainable early speed which will set the race up ideally for our best bet on the program.

Earlier in the card, Brimham Rocks appeals at his each way quote contesting the Benchmark 88 Schweppes Handicap (2000m).

The UK import produced a strong first up showing at this course over the mile four weeks ago, running third behind the talented Avilius.

Avilius has since come out and won the Group 3 Premier’s Cup (1900m) at Rosehill last Saturday.

Brimham Rocks is having his second race preparation under the care of Chris Waller and the general consensus is all of his imports tend to produce substantial improvement on their maiden Australian campaigns.

Early signs indicate Brimham Rocks is no exception to the rule.

He will be fitter second run from a spell and Hugh Bowman jumping aboard can be considered another positive lead.

Outside of dominant last start winner All Too Soon, the fourth event on the card doesn’t possess a great deal of depth.

Brimham Rocks is one of just a few in the field who possess noticeable upside so taking each way odds about a second up victory by the son of Fastnet Rock appears a worthwhile wager.

Sydney Specials: Randwick – September 1

Best Of The Day: R9; #7 Best Of Days @ $3.30