Welcome to our horse racing preview and betting tips for racing at Kensington on Wednesday, May 20th.
We've got seven races on the Kensington track at Randwick today, with the track currently rated a Soft 6 and the rail out 5m. There's good weather predicted throughout the day so expect the track to improve.
Check out our preview and betting tips for the Kenso meeting below!
Kensington Racing Tips: Wednesday, May 20th
Best Bet: Race 5 - (7) Archanna
Best Value: Race 4 - (4) Money Magic
(1) Tommy Gold resumes from a break here. He ran here first up last prep where he was beaten 1.3L under similar circumstances. He's trialled well, John O'Shea has a good record on the Kensington track with eight winners from 27 runners this season, and he looks hard to beat. James McDonald has trialled (11) Dance for the Snowdens but he elects to go with the stablemate (4) Armatree. (5) Head Legislator has trialled well and draws the inside gate.
(7) Miss Spiteful started her career with a 2nd and a win before failing behind Adelong at the end of last prep. She sat three-wide no cover on speed the whole trip before dropping out to finish last. It's notable that she started $4.60 in that race so you have to respect her SP profile given Adelong is a talented filly who came out and won easily last weekend. (3) Frosty Rocks led from start to finish first up at Warwick Farm. She steps up in grade today and with Miss Spiteful in the race, she might not be able to lead and control the race like she did at Warwick Farm. (3) Hulk resumes and he's placed in eight of his 12 career starts. He'll be thereabouts once again but it's hard to say he'll win.
(7) Miss Spiteful E.W
$8.50
(10) Private Thoughts looks a good each way bet here given there's a few knocks on a couple of the favourites. She won over 1000m here on the Kenso last prep before running 2nd to Yitai Synergy so she's clearly capable. She's trialled twice leading into this and she draws barrier 1 so shouldn't have to do much work at all. Whether she's fully wound up is the issue but O'Shea has a good record on the Kenso and at $6.50 she's a bet. (2) Wandabaa is undefeated from two starts when first up from a spell. She has a good record at the distance and has contested harder races than this last prep. The query is apprentice Louise Day is booked to ride her, which indicates she isn't fully wound up, and backing her confidently in town isn't something I can do. There is every chance the horse is just better than them though. (9) Spaceboy finally got his first career win at Kembla but I wasn't necessarily impressed by the win. He's always around the mark but struggles to win.
(10) Private Thoughts
$6.50
(4) Money Magic is a nice price at $7.00. She won well first up defeating Blueant at Hawkesbury, closing well from back in the field. She ran 2nd in the city at the end of last prep so she's got some depth to her form and she's yet to finish out of the top two from four career starts. This looks a suitable race for her and any cut in the ground shouldn't be an issue. Looks a progressive filly and $7.00 is a nice each way price. I think the drop back in distance is a positive for (3) Flinders. I think he's just struggled with the 1900m in his past two starts. He draws to get a lovely run from barrier 3, JMac sticks with him and there's no reason he can't be in the finish again here. (6) Blueant was beaten a length by Money Magic last start and they meet at the same weights today, so I don't quite know why he's shorter in the market than she is. (1) Ulysees next best.
(4) Money Magic E/W
$7.00
(7) Archanna just has to repeat what she did on debut and she'll win this. The obvious queries are the five weeks between runs and the little issue that prevented her from lining up a couple of weeks ago, but I think she's just too good so I'm not worried at all about those. She is a half-sister to The Autumn Sun and she couldn't have been more impressive on debut at Warwick Farm, storming home from off the speed to find the front at the 200m and race away. The last filly I saw win with that kind of arrogance on debut was Funstar, and she turned out to be pretty good. I think this is a serious filly and I think she'll jsut win.
(8) Crafty Tycoon hasn't won for a while but he's been running well in defeat. He was beaten less than a length at Warwick Farm last start and there's already been two horses come out of that race and win since. He's won his only previous start over this track and distance and looks a value chance at $15. (6) Reformist didn't get any luck at a crucial stage last start, but in saying that, he didn't necessarily savage the line once he was clear. JMac jumps off to ride (8) Bombasay for Kris Lees, who has run consecutive placings at the provincials and now comes to town.
This race is very difficult, with three international imports making their Australian debuts. (12) Wild About Her won over this track and distance last start and was beaten less than a length prior to that when first up from a spell. She's won two of her four starts when third up, has three wins and three placings from six starts at the distance, and she just had to overcome the rise from 53kg to 59kg today. I was keen on (15) California Salto last start but she failed. She did pull up 2/5 lame after the race which explains her disappointing performance. She also started around $4.60 compared to Wild About Her starting $13, so the market on that day expected California Salto to perform much better than she did. Probably worth forgiving her and giving her another chance. (16) Agassi has a good record at the track and distance but really struggles to win. I'd keep a close eye on the three imports - it should give us an indication if any of them are ready to win first up.
(12) Wild About Her
$7.50
