Brilliant Mind has produced a few eye-catching runs without breaking his maiden, but simply won’t be offered a better opportunity to win that he finds in the first at Hawkesbury today. The So You Think gelding has improved noticeably in each of his three starts this time and flew home to finish an agonizingly close second, in what looked a tougher race than this one at Gosford last time out. Simply put, he looks ready to win.
Furlana returned a good performance to finish fourth behind Autumn at Gosford first-up and will take wholesale improvement into her second-up target today. The Snowdens have been patient lightly-raced four-year-old and she could probably count herself unlucky not to have broken her maiden. Christian Reith can slot in behind the pace from a wide draw today and will look to finish over the tops of his rivals.
Rock Dove was a smart winner of the Strutt Stakes last time out and she can continue Godolphin’s excellent run in the Apple Isle by winning this afternoon’s Tasmanian Oaks. The daughter of Epaulette is starting to put together a great record and she has continued to improve with racing. Her most-recent performance and win was the biggest of her career so far and she can continue her rise through the grades by winning this.
Lord Smedley was only fair to the line first-up but is a horse that generally enjoys sharp improvement second up, and he will be tough to beat in the last at Launceston today. The former Victorian galloper recorded several pleasing results while under the care of Patrick Payne last time in and at his best, he does have a genuine edge over today’s rivals.