Cranbourne Cup: Weather and track condition crucial for punters

Caulfield Guineas Prelude 2023 winner Steparty, photo by Getty Images It gets trickier to find the black bookers well into the carnival, but I've found a select seven we should get a collect out of down the track. The track certainly played on the firmer side as the day went on with an upgrade to a Good 3 after race five and when Caulfield is this…

Jockey Daniel Moore is reuniting with Uncle Bryn at Flemington ahead of a bigger assignment in the Caulfield Cup. Uncle Bryn contests the Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on Saturday in a bid to emulate the deeds of Smokin' Romans 12 months ago. Smokin' Romans won the Naturalism Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield enroute to the Turnbull Stakes, and…

Kovalica is a red-hot favourite for Saturday's Group 1 Queensland Derby (2400m) and is more than deserving of his $1.70 quote with Betr, according to the Punters Inside Run team. The Waller-trained gelding is on the quick back-up after a slashing third in last week's Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) against older horses. "I thought last start there was…

The market says the Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m) is wide-open and the Punters Inside Run team have come up with three different picks for the staying feature. Mick Sharkie is going with She's Fit - the lone filly in the 16-horse field - to improve on her narrow second-placing in the Australasian Oaks (2000m). "She was good enough against…

Class is set to prevail in Saturday's Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) at Randwick, according to Punters Inside Run form expert Mick Sharkie. Alcohol Free, purchased by Yulong Investments for a staggering $10m in 2022, heads Betr's market at $3.30 and Sharkie believes favouritism is justified. "She's a multiple Group 1-winning mare from…

Punters Inside Run pair Matt Campbell and Mick Sharkie are going with a couple of double-figure hopes in Saturday's Group 1 Doncaster Mile at Randwick. In a typically wide-open running of the famous handicap, reigning champion Mr Brightside heads betting at $5 with Betr ahead of Fangirl at $8. Sharkie is going with a proven formula - William…

Three-year-old colt Virtuous Circle is worth keeping safe in Saturday's Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m), according to Punters Inside Run form analyst James Lamb. The lightly-raced son of Almanzor is a $23 chance with Betr in a market headed up by Godolphin veteran Cascadian. Both Lamb and host Matt Campbell believe Cascadian is the horse to beat in…

THE reigning Melbourne Cup winner and a top-line international raider have been forecast to duke it out in the Group 1 Tancred Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday. Form analyst Michael Sharkie believes Irish galloper Cleveland, trained by Joseph O'Brien, can win the $1.5 million 2400m event at his first run in Australia. But he is wary of last year's…

Form analysts are looking for value outside star sprinter Nature Strip in Saturday's $1million Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes. The eight-year-old gelding is lining up for his fourth successive crack at the 1000m weight-for-age event down the Flemington straight, having finished fourth, first and second in the past three years. Nature Strip…

The Drinkwise Mile, race six on Saturday's Randwick card, shapes as a two-horse race between Banju and resuming import Soulcombe. The early money with Betr has been for Banju, who heads betting at $2.25 ahead of the Waller-trained Soulcombe at $2.80. Punters Inside Run form analyst Mick Sharkie is taking a set against the latter, declaring Banju…

A pair of Group 2 races - the Expressway Stakes and the Australia Stakes - headline Australian racing on Saturday and the Punters Inside Run team have crunched the form and come up with their betting plays. Host Matt Campbell is keen on Godolphin galloper Golden Mile to return a winner in the Rosehill feature, while Mick Sharkie is tipping Pizarro…

It looks a wide-open Group 3 Standish Handicap (1200m) on paper and the Punters Inside Run form analysts have all settled on a different top pick for the Flemington feature. Panellist Mick Sharkie believes last year's Standish winner Halvorsen is poised to repeat the dose and add a sixth Flemington victory to his CV. "He generally goes around at…

Uncle Bryn has been in Australia less than a year but has made an immediate impact for Cranbourne trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, winning three races from ten starts and scoring his biggest win to date in Saturday's listed Cranbourne Cup (1600m). There looked a genuine speed on paper and that's the way it played out, with Melbourne…

News Corp form analyst Brad Waters takes an early look at Saturday's Cranbourne Cup meeting. BEST BET PORT PHILLIP (Race 3, No. 1) Pushed a subsequent Melbourne Cup placegetter all the way in the Bendigo Cup. That's impeccable form for a Benchmark 84 race. VALUE BET BELLINGER (Race 9, No. 5) His first two runs this time in have been solid and he'll…

A late decision could give Uncle Bryn a chance to claim another country cup success in Saturday's $500000 Cranbourne Cup. Uncle Bryn finished fifth to Epsom Handicap co-winner Ellsberg in the $2m Five Diamonds at Rosehill last Saturday, which was set to be the import's last spring run. However, co-trainer Trent Busuttin said the Sale Cup winner had…

I'm Thunderstruck won't be turning the tables on Cox Plate winner Anamoe in the Champions Stakes, according to Punters Inside Run form analysts Mick Sharkie and James Lamb. The James Cummings-trained superstar has won all four of his starts this preparation - all at Group 1 level - and the perfect spring campaign is well within his grasp. "Everyone…

Gold Trip has defied the odds to win the 2022 Melbourne Cup, leaving plenty of punters red-faced. The six-year-old horse did it the hard way, taking the lead with more than 300m to run before Emissary threatened to mount a comeback with 150m to go. But the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained horse showed its class by finding one final effort at…

Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr's two Cranbourne Cup runners retained their prominent places in betting on the $500000 Listed event after faring well at Wednesday morning's barrier draw. Pre-draw favourite Visinari consolidated his place at the top of the market after drawing landing barrier seven in the field of 15, while Our Playboy will start…

Josh Julius isn't complaining, but the abundant post-Melbourne Cup Week options now available have provided him with a dilemma as to what to do with his stable star Just Folk. The six-year-old was among the nominations for the Cranbourne Cup when entries for the $500000 Listed event closed on Monday. But Julius entered the spring thinking the…

Day two of the Dante Festival at York on Thursday brings the feature race of the meeting, the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante Stakes at 3.10pm. This Group 2 contest over 1m 2½f is the last of the major UK trials for next month's Derby and since it was first run in 1958 it has thrown up 10 subsequent winners of Epsom showpiece, the most recent being…

Cranbourne Cup punters should keep their powder dry until raceday, according to Punters Inside Run form experts Mick Sharkie and James Lamb. As has been the case in Melbourne across the entire spring carnival, rain is set to fall in the lead-up to Saturday's meeting, making it difficult to predict a track rating. While there are some horses who…