The major focus on any Saturday is metropolitan racing but there's plenty of us out there that don't mind a dabble at the support meetings across the country so here's our best bets.
On Saturday, we’ve come up with a tip at the Kembla, Kilmore and Gold Coast meetings.
KEMBLA
THY KINGDOM COME (Race 7 No. 8) You’re not going to retire on a slush fund if he wins but he looks one of the better bankers across the nation on Saturday. This lightly-raced three-year-old has shown some glimpses of good ability four starts and was given a forgiving ride first-up when the jockey was too aggressive in the early stages also taking off before the home turn. A John Thompson-trained colt, he was always going to need the run and his effort during the first two-thirds of the race told over the last 200m. This time he gets to a more suitable trip and this is a gigantic, and we mean gigantic drop in grade. When you look at the form of the runners at least eight of them are going nowhere in life while the others still have plenty to prove. Thy Kingdom Come on the other hand showed what he is capable of when only beaten 2-1/2 lengths in the Group III Pago Pago Stakes last prep. He draws barrier one for this and will get a soft run behind them and should prove a class above.
KILMORE
THANOS (Race 8 No. 3) Looks a tricky card at Kilmore Saturday on a track that will be somewhere between soft and heavy depending on what level of ran they get in the next 24 hours. We’re not usually in a big hurry to rush into a Benchmark 58 but I think we can get some cash out of Thanos. He’s bred to swim being by Mossman out of an El Moxie mare but he hadn’t struck anything apart from Good tracks in his first eight career starts. He resumed just over two weeks back off a two-month spell where he finally struck a soft track and ran one of the best races of his career beaten just under half a length in a very similar race. Fitter for the run and drawn for a perfect run midfield or better, he won’t get a better chance to post his second win.
GOLD COAST
SUGARPARMA (Race 7 No. 4) This former NSW-based galloper needed the run first-up when she got a long way back in a slowly run affair before making up some ground late and the beaten margin of 5-1/2 lengths way unfair. This shapes as a vastly different task for this daughter of Snitzel with a decent enough tempo to help while the step up to 1400m is also a huge plus. Now a four-year-old, Sugarparma has shown in previous campaigns what she’s capable of with close-up finishes behind the likes of My True Love, My Country and Marquita and this race is moderate to say the most. D-day for her but should be winning and has opened each-way odds.
