3 minute read

The Raconteur Stakes for three-year-old's is the feature on a strong day of racing at Belmont.

A wet deck is expected at Belmont on Saturday, with heavy rain hitting the West Coast on Thursday evening and into Friday morning.

With the track already rated a Soft 6 as of Thursday morning, and up to 20mm of rain expected on Saturday, it's likely we'll end up in the 'Heavy' range come race time.

Hopefully the weather plays ball and doesn't put a dampener on what looks a fantastic Raconteur Stakes for the three-year-old's.

The market is currently headed by Generosity and The Boss Lady (as of 5pm, June 6th) and they come through the same race where the market had it a 70/30 split in favour of Generosity ($2.40 vs. $5.50)

While they meet at level weights this time, the market has now made it close to 50/50 between the pair, but there's more to this race than just the drop in weight for The Boss Lady.

The daughter of Street Boss steps out beyond 1200m for just the second time and has drawn wide for Chris Parnham which may see her back in the ruck, while Generosity should have the tactical advantage from an inside alley.

Simon Miller's charge has beaten The Boss Lady both times they've faced off, with the market heavily favouring Generosity on both occasions.

What makes this race so interesting, is that Super Smink will carry top weight in looks the easiest race she's been in for some time.

She still rates highly with Racing and Sports through her runs in The Quokka and Northam Stakes and looks a big chance to improve dropping back into her own age group.

While the Raconteur is a great race, there's one who holds the same formlines as the two favourites in the Listed feature, who is not at the top of the market in the final race of the day.

LUVNWAR made an impression in her Australian debut, splitting Generosity and The Boss Lady over 1200m last start in a sit-and-sprint style affair.

That effort rated close to her peak with Racing and Sports, with the three-year-old now out to 1400m where she was G3 placed at the end of her last campaign.

She handled the soft conditions with ease last time out and while she is likely to get back in the run, being out wide by the end of the day might be the place to be.

Luvnwar is lightly raced and looks to have plenty of upside, and she looks ready to tap into that potential on Saturday.

Earlier in the card, I'm heading back to the well with GODDESS OF GIVING in Race 2.

The Lou Luciani-trained mare is one of only a couple horses who actually perform best over 1000m, with horses like Yonga Lass and Russian To The Bar coming into this first-up and expected to be better over further.

While she can tend to find herself in sticky siutations, she'll handle the wet going and she may just possess too much speed for her rivals who may require some time to wind up.

The bet365 Best From The West

Best Bet: Race 9 Number 6 LUVNWAR @ $6* with bet365

Next Best: Race 2 Number 6 GODDESS OF GIVING @ $2.90* with bet365

Raconteur Stakes: Race 8 Number 10 GENEROSITY @ $4.20* with bet365

*Prices correct as of 5pm, June 6th.

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