Welcome to our horse racing preview and betting tips for racing on Wednesday, February 26th.
Midweek metro racing takes place at Sandown Hillside, Gosford and Ascot, and you can find our best bets for each track below!
With the Autumn Racing Carnival starting to warm up, Draftstars have announced they are going to launch a brand new fantasy horse racing product. It will all get underway on today with the meeting at Sandown, and to get the party started, Draftstars have put up a $20,000 prize pool for just a $15 buy-in. Click here to read more about the launch of Draftstars fantasy horse racing!
Horse Racing Tips: Wednesday, February 26th
Best Bet: Sandown Race 8 - (8) Heart Of Puissance
Sandown Race 1 (Market)
(4) Wairere Falls was absolutely backed as if unbeatable on debut at Bendigo. He was about $2.80 into $1.50 and after being afforded every possible chance, failed to reel in Paradee. After originally appearing disappointing, upon reflection it may pay to stick with him. There was a decent gap back to 3rd, which is always a good sign for the strength of the first two horses, and Paradee came out and ran enormous in defeat at his next start - he should have won but was badly held up before hitting the line powerfully. So I think the form out of that race at Bendigo is strong and the other positive move today is the blinkers going on Wairere Falls for the first time. He draws perfectly again and I'm respecting how heavily backed he was on debut, so I'll stick with him once more today. (7) Intrigue is another horse that was defeated as a red-hot odds-on favourite first up, but failed. She bounced back with a much improved effort last start so with a good draw, she looks a main danger. Save on her.
Sandown Race 8 (Market)
Very keen to see the return of All-Star Mile contender (8) Heart Of Puissance. In my opinion, he should be undefeated but he just plain and simply had no idea what he was doing last time he raced, which was in the G2 Sandown Guineas back in November. He led on that occasion, was under the whip shortly after turning for home, got passed by a length or two, then picked up again to be beaten half-a-length. He's had a little setback leading into this but from all reports it wasn't big and he's coming into this in as good shape as he can be first up. I firmly believe he's a Group horse, so even though this is a deep race, he looks too classy for a BM70 on a Wednesday. He'll need some luck to get a gap from barrier 2, but I expect him to win this on his way to the All Star Mile in a couple of weeks.
(8) Heart Of Puissance
$3.20
Gosford Race 2 (Market)
Keen on the Gerald Ryan-trained (2) Kumasi. He makes his debut here after winning a trial at Randwick by 3.8L. There were better times run on the day but he couldn't have been much more impressive. I particularly liked his final 100m, where horses were making ground on him but then he dropped them in a matter of strides and went to the line ears pricked. Brenton Avdulla sticks with him for raceday which is always a positive sign. He's also Gerald Ryan's only runner of the day at Gosford, which is a track he has a terrific record at. This season, he's operating at a 30% strike rate at Gosford and a 71% ROI. I think he'll prove awfully hard to beat at $3.30.
Gosford Race 5 (Market)
(5) Front Money was a solid winner on debut over 900m at Newcastle, where he backed up a couple of good trials at Canterbury and Rosehill leading in. I think he can go on with it stepping up to 1000m today with Tommy Berry taking over for the ride. He's drawn to get a perfect run and every chance. (1) Mo's Crown returns first up as a gelding and he's won both trials leading into this. He was last seen finishing down the track behind Yes Yes Yes and Bivouac, so it's no surprise to see he's been $13 into $4.80 since markets opened. He looks the danger and with that weight of money it's worth keeping him very safe.
Ascot Race 1 (Market)
Pretty keen on the Neville Parnham-trained (10) Smashing on debut here. She was a bit lost in her first 400m trial but she then stepped up to 1000m and trialled particularly well. She won the trial easily and Neville Parnham gave her a pretty glowing endorsement after the trial, saying she's one of his better two-year-olds and may turn out to be the best of them. She's drawn perfectly in barrier 4 here and this is a winnable race for her first race start. She will take plenty of beating.
Ascot Race 7 (Market)
Basically only interested in the top two horses in the market here. (1) Bollywood Blitz ran a bottler first up from a 72-week spell, where he ran 3rd beaten half-a-length. He only trialled once leading into that so surely he'll have some improvement to come, though the little query is whether he's a bit flat after such a big run fresh from a long spell. It wouldn't surprise me if Ascot was a soft track by the time this race comes around given the rain predicted leading up to the race, and if that's the case it's only positive for Bollywood Blitz who has won three of his four starts on soft ground. (3) Yulong Earth is a touch unlucky not to be undefeated from three career starts in Western Australia. First up he had the race shot to bits but threw it away, second up he was beaten 0.3L, but he finally broke through for his first win in the West last start, when again he almost threw it away by laying in badly. He's a bit of a nutcase, but Pike gets the ride on him today and he also gets blinkers reapplied. I think he's the perfect Pike horse, as he'll just find a spot back in the field, get him to the outside and storm home. Happy to back Yulong Earth and save on Bollywood Blitz.
