Bendigo
Race 5 – Irish Butterfly
Jockey – Damien Thornton
2200m – Barrier 11
Irish Butterfly steps out to 2200-metres for the first time today as he looks to go one better than a last start second at Wangaratta. The seven-year-old son of O’Reilly was held up when building momentum there and by the time he picked up and got going the winner had stolen the race. The stable have indicated they intend to ride the gelding more forward today, jockey Damien Thornton instructed to try and find a spot outside the leader from a wide gate. In a race devoid of early speed, Thornton won’t want to burn much fuel getting over and can ease across runners to find a spot in the run to the first turn. The market has struggled to identify a favourite here with six runners quoted in single figures. Miss Vaughn won her maiden impressively last start and looks ready to carry on, while Tavisteel was good in metropolitan class at The Valley. Irish Butterfly finds a suitable race today and is a genuine winning chance if things go his way in the early stages of the event.
Currently, Irish Butterfly is a $6.50 chance in the market.