Evict has not been seen at the races since March, but he has trialled extremely well in the lead-up to this race and won’t be offered a better opportunity to break his maiden. The Sepoy gelding has only had two starts since debuting midway through 2017, but he has shown glimpses of decent ability and resumed this year for a close-up second behind Greater Good in a 1200m sprint at Newcastle. He’s drawn ideally on the rails and on exposed form, he’s the one to beat.
Stock Up will have her first run since May in the third at Hawkesbury this afternoon, but she is capable of a big first-up run and looks to have an edge over today’s rivals. The daughter of Tavistock typically races in tougher company than she finds here and worked home well to finish second in a 1200m sprint at Rosehill Gardens when resuming last time. She’s drawn ideally on the rails and will be hard to beat.
The field for the seventh is easily the strongest at Hawkesbury this afternoon, but I am confident that the Godolphin-trained Segalas will prove extremely difficult to beat again. Segalas immediately stamped herself as a horse to follow when she debuted for a close-up second behind Evaline at Wyong last month and she took plenty of benefit into her second-up target to easily beat a field over 1350m. Brenton Avdulla can take the filly straight to the lead from barrier 3 and with added improvement, she’ll give them something to chase.
Chapoutier is a horse that typically improves with racing and she should take plenty of benefit into her second-up run at Bendigo. The Mastercraftsman mare recorded several impressive results while under the care of Stephen Marsh in New Zealand and ended her tenure with a smart win over this trip at Waipukurau in March. A step up to a mile is ideal and with champion hoop Damien Oliver aboard, she can threaten at genuine each-way odds ($15 at the time of publish).