16 May 2019 | Ken Casellas
Members of the WA Trotting Media Guild have been impressed by former Kiwi Mathew James, with many making the Justin Prentice trained, Gary Hall Jnr driven three-year-old their star bet at Saturday’s twilight meeting.
Ernie Manning, Hayden King, Tim Walker and Ryan Havercroft all made Mathew James their standout for the night.
Havercroft, perhaps best, summed up the thoughts of his colleagues.
“Mathew James brought up a hat-trick of wins when successful here two weeks ago over The Kraken,” he said. “On that occasion he was way too classy for his rivals and went to the line with something in reserve. He looks to have a bright future and is yet to miss the placings after six starts.”
Stuart Lowe and Pat Harding can see King Of Swing saluting again.
“My best bet is former star juvenile King Of Swing, who impressed with an all-the-way win here last start,” Lowe said. “He rises in class here but likely to find the front again and be very hard to beat.”
Harding agrees.
“My best bet comes up in race eight with the Hall-trained King Of Swing,” he said. “He had a good win last week and coming out of barrier four he should have no trouble accounting for this field.”
Matt Young is keen on Caviar Star.
“Caviar Star had a lot go wrong last week and still ran a good second,” he said. “Looks to be closing back to his best and the one to beat.”
Wayne Currall fancies Mister Spot to land an all-the-way victory in the seventh race.
“Master reinsman Christopher Allen Lewis jumps back in the bike from the pole … need I say more,” he said. “This John Graham-trained four-year-old is racing with admirable zest and whatever beats him will win.”
VALUE BETS
ERNIE: Soho Leviathan has not won in five starts since a spell, but appears primed to show form which has enabled him to score three Gloucester Park victories. The gelding impressed when a close second to highly-rated Bechers Brook at Pinjarra on Monday.
HAYDEN: Captured Delight has been racing in career-best form recently and strikes a chance to really announce herself as a top-line mare.
TIM: Highroller Joe is starting to settle into this class of racing. A couple of horses on the front line don’t have consistent winning form here, so hopefully with a bit of pace in the race he can be storming over the top late.
RYAN: Vincenzo Perrugia rises in class but that just means you’ll get a better price about a horse in outstanding form.
STUART: The value bet is Mister Spot, who followed a strong win here with a close second to Ruling Gold. Drawn well and has each-way claims.
PAT: It’s time for Madame Meilland to show us she is capable of a win. This field does not have a lot of form and I think Chris Lewis can guide her to victory from gate five.
MATT: Soho Leviathan is a very good frontrunner and has explosive gate speed. Solid field should suggest he’s a good each-way price.
WAYNE: Black Jack Zac is racing in career-best form and gets another opportunity to earn money for his connections in the first sprint of the night.
To view all of the Media Guild tips click here.
Good Punting at this rare metropolitan Saturday meeting.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
