3 minute read

Melbourne racing heads to the Heath and we’ve got the plays of the day.

Not the deepest meeting I've seen on a Saturday but winners to be found nonetheless and I'm happy to stamp Miraval Rose as the best on the card.

She lines up in the Magic Millions 3 & 4yo race looking exceptionally well in at the set weights given not just her official handicap but her Racing & Sports ratings as well.

She's rated to a peak of 106 on the RAS scale and returned at Caulfield in the Listed Village Stakes (1100m) with a rating of 101, simply finding Kin and Pharari too sharp late but sticking on for third.

1400m is what she really wants but she does get a bit of extra ground out to 1200m now and her ratings just sit clear of these. Miss Altair is a nice horse who won in good time at Moonee Valley but has run to 90 and 93 in two wins this time in, needing to jump at least ten pounds if not more to match Miraval Rose.

The market can't split them but I can, marking Miraval Rose around the $2.30 quote, with much bigger than that readily available.

For the each-way play I'm going to side with Igotcha in Race 4 who just looks too big a price against Flying Fizz.

I was keen to be against Flying Fizz at Ballarat before she came out (and best bet The Open won) and she lobs up here as a short-priced favourite off the big win at Donald which looks a bit of a strange one.

The time was solid but she was perfectly ridden with no pressure and now has to step to 1500m with solid pressure.

Igotcha is racing very consistently and her last start RAS rating of 99 is just two pounds off what Flying Fizz did at Donald. Igotcha was second to smart mare Oh Too Good at Cranbourne there, beaten a long neck in good late splits to suggest she may have toppled the winner if sitting closer.

The issue here is the wide draw and John Allen who looks likely to go back which has been tough to do at The Heath track but she's almost touching double figures and that's far too big for me given her last start weight adjusted rating is narrowly the highest in the field.

The Melbourne Mail

Bet of the day: Race 6 #3 Miraval Rose at $3.20

Each-way play: Race 4 #4 Igotcha at $9.50/2.45