The HDR stable has two runners today in PAPER DRAGON at Sandown and HEAVENLY BRIDGES at Horsham.
Sandown – Heavy (8)
Sandown has come up a Heavy 8 on race morning after 34mm of rain overnight. Sandown Hillside is a beautifully laid out track with long runs into the turns and a significant, 490m long home straight that gives all horses their chance. With the soft conditions, it wouldn’t surprise to see the track chop out a bit and horses get away from the fence as the meeting goes on.(Form Analyst Matt Welsh)
Race 5 (2:30pm) Senet Gambling Law Experts Handicap BM 70 1300m
No.6 Paper Dragon– Will Price (Barrier 9)
PAPER DRAGON (9) heads to Sandown on Saturday where she will contest a 1300m BM70 (Race 5, 2.30pm). She has drawn gate nine and Will Price rides with a 1.5kg claim.
PAPER DRAGON is on trial out to the 1300m but she is racing in terrific form and there’s no reason to suggest the extra 100m won’t suit based on how strong she was late at Swan Hill. She beat a seasoned BM58 galloper in Astro PAPER DRAGON is on trial out to the 1300m but she is racing in terrific form and there’s no reason to suggest the extra 100m won’t suit based on how strong she was late at Swan Hill. She beat a seasoned BM58 galloper in Astro Castro last time out and I liked the gap back to third; it was a dominant win. The same could be said for her on-speed performance at The Valley the start prior where she just ran them into the ground. The little query is the wet track as her one exposure at Colac was a ‘fair’ performance, but she did have some excuses there and it can be a tricky track. There’s no doubt this is tougher than her last couple but she’s racing well and her fitness should help in the wet ground.(Form Analyst Matt Welsh)
TAB WIN Fixed Odds – $16 (as at 10am)
Horsham – Soft (6)
Horsham has come up a Soft 6 after 10mm of overnight rain. The 1100m start at Horsham has a tight turn come up a furlong or so after the start so getting into a good spot early in the race can be most important. Track data shows that despite the layout of the course, there is historically a reasonable spread of winners across those on speed, midfield and backmarkers.(Form Analyst Matt Welsh)
Race 7 (4:41pm) CHS Group BM64 Handicap 1100m
No.5 Heavenly Bridges– Zoe Lloyd (Barrier 10)
HEAVENLY BRIDGES (10) heads to Horsham on Saturday where she will contest an 1100m BM64 (Race 7, 4.41pm). She has drawn gate ten and Zoe Lloyd will ride with her 3kg claim.
HEAVENLY BRIDGES has the early toe to be right amongst that speed battle should Zoe Lloyd desire but she has typically been ridden a little quieter in recent starts. As I noted ahead of Stawell, this mare has gone off the boil a bit in recent starts and she was well-beaten last time out, albeit in stronger grade. She drops back to a BM64 here and with the claim of Zoe Lloyd still gets in with just 55.5kg which would be a very generous weight for a mare of her class if she can find her best. She has never won past 1000m and the strong tempo will certainly make this feel like every bit of 1100m, but that doesn’t concern me as much as her recent form does. The Dwyer stable is flying so hopefully this mare can follow suit and show a return to form. (Form Analyst Matt Welsh)
TAB WIN Fixed Odds – $20 (as at 10am)