Saturday sees us back at Caulfield for the Victorian Owners and Breeders Race Day and the running of the Group 2 Sportsbet Peter Young Stakes over 1800m.
The track is rated a Good 4 with the rail +6m the entire circuit and we should see some even racing throughout the day. MRC Chairman John Kanga has declared that he will shout the bar if Pride Of Jenni takes the win, so let us take a look at her chances.
Bois D’Argent jumps from barrier 1 and should be a key speed influence. We generally prefer to find a runner that can take a sit over the 1800m, and combined with his previously poor record at Caulfield see us preferring to risk him.
Future History presents here second up, where he has a reasonable record of one win and three minor placings from five starts. He generally performs ok at Caulfield and is one of only three runners here proven over the 1800m and looks like he could find a top 3 finish.
Que Tempesta is best on paper over the 1800m with two wins and one placing from three starts, however he seems to find his best away from Caulfield.
Plenty Of Ammo maps for a nice run in transit perhaps tucking in behind Pride Of Jenni, and her form looks reasonable on paper. She has a perfect record at Caulfield (1:1) and should relish the dry track, while you cannot go past her 56% career strike rate. While she will likely take improvement from her last start where she went down to Marble Arch over 1600m by 5.1L, to our eye she did not finish that race like a horse looking for the extra distance. Likely to be thereabouts in a small field.
Pride Of Jenni will have plenty of support from thirsty punters, and with 37 degrees forecast for Melbourne on Saturday there is likely to be lots about. Can she come back from retirement and bring it home here?
While we hate to be the killjoy, we do not expect that to be the headlines we will be seeing on Sunday. It is pretty tough to know where she is fitness-wise currently, but her first up form is not great (8:0-3) and Caulfield is not exactly her favourite track. It would be a fairy tale return for the mare and Ciaron Maher, so we would be happy to be proven wrong for their sakes.
Our last runner is Zardozi, coming here third up following a gusty 2.4L third to Marble Arch over 1600m last start. She finished that race like a horse looking for further, and with the smaller field here she is unlikely to find herself so far back in the run. We have a few slight concerns as to how well she will handle Caulfield (one start for a fourth) and the likely bone-dry going, but she looks primed for this to our eye.
We are finding it hard to go past the early market favourite Zardozi, while noting a couple of question marks about her performance on Good tracks. Plenty Of Ammo and Future History are our next best.
Good luck punters and enjoy a great day of racing.
As published on Thoroughbrednews.com.au