Wet tracks look the order of the day at the four meetings set to take place with soft going forecast at Wyong, one of two provincial meetings and heavy ground at Beaudesert, Donald and Albury.
Witness to triumph for Neasham
In the third race at Wyong, a 1350m Class 1 handicap contest the Joseph Pride-trained Think About It looks likely to jump a short priced favourite for jockey Rory Hutchings.
The son of So You Think made an impressive start to his racing career when racing from mid-division in a 12 runner maiden over Kembla Grange prior to going on to deliver a two length triumph on a soft 7 surface.
The barrier draw in six here should prove no issue given the size of the field but he may find the experienced Flying Witness has to much for him with the booking of Chad Schofield catching the eye.
Annabel Neasham’s charge has been thought good enough to tackle Group races in the past and with that in mind it’s perhaps surprising that it took the filly eight starts to break her maiden.
That maiden success came over 1850m on a good 4 track at Newcastle at the end of January and while she raced over further on her final two starts last spell this drop in trip should prove no issue given she showed solid form in maiden company in sprints.
Heir for Beaudesert success
Sir Piccolo delivered a fourth career success and a first this spell when successful by a narrow margin in a Benchmark 55 contest over 1350m at Warwick at the start of the month.
The Ken Jones-trained gelding had previously shown he handles heavy tracks when runner-up in a Restricted 55 contest over 1200m at the same venue just under a month ago.
The drop to 1100m here should prove no issue given he has performed well over the trip here in the past but he may require some luck in running having been ridden from off the pace in all five starts this spell.
While Roman Heir has failed to win first up in three previous spells he did show good form when runner-up in a 1200m maiden at Gold Coast last spell.
Trained by Diane G Murphy the now five-year-old went on to deliver tow victories including in a 1300m Restricted 58 contest on a heavy 9 track at Gold Coast in April.
Roman Heir is the only horse in the field with winning form on a heavy track and with that in mind he is taken to record a third career win with Taylor Marshall, who was successful on the selection at Ipswich back in January booked to ride.
Route to break maiden
The fourth race on the Donald card, a 2210m maiden event looks a competitive affair with a number of the field having finished in the frame last time out.
Among those is the four-year-old gelding The Stock Route who appeared to appreciate the step up in distance when finishing runner-up in a 2000m maiden on a good 4 track at Mildura last month.
The son of Host had previously finished down the field in a couple of 1620m maiden races at this venue and while the likes of Matt Cumani’s Ammishaddai, the Damian Lane ridden Twosret and in form handler Luke Oliver’s representative Pick Up Chicks are likely to starter shorter in the betting Jane Duncan’s charge looks capable of going one better than at MIldura.
