Angel Of War just missed at this track and distance last time out and will take plenty of benefit into her third-up assignment this afternoon. The Declaration Of War filly showed some ability through her debut preparation and resumed for fifth in a Toowoomba sprint in early September, having weathered a tough run on the pace. Luke Tarrant can take the horse straight to the lead from barrier 5 and she simply won’t be offered a better opportunity to break her maiden.
Former Chris Waller galloper Iowa will have her first run for Chris Munce at Beaudesert this afternoon and I am confident that she is up to winning a race of this quality, at a nice price. The All American mare has typically raced in stronger company than she faces this afternoon and hit the line well to finish fifth at Doomben two runs back, before a luckless hit-out at the Gold Coast last time. She will have to overcome a potentially awkward draw, but she does look to have the edge over many of today’s rivals and the $8 on offer at the time of publish looks overs.
Sticks has been racing well this time in and will be hard to hold out in the last at Kilmore today. The Denman gelding worked home fairly to finish a credible fifth at Geelong first-up before employing different, on-pace tactics that returned a dominant win over 13000m. He was last seen finishing third amongst decent company at Wangaratta and he has plenty of options today from a central draw.
Marathon has been a strong and consistent performer this time and looks beautifully placed in the Kayuga Cup this afternoon. The I Am Invincible gelding won the Livermore Cup (1400m) at Taree in August and has placed in each of his three starts since, including a Warwick Farm sprint and the Jungle Juice Cup (1350m) last time out. He’ll be hard to beat.