Colombina will take plenty of benefit into her second campaign target at Kembla Grange this afternoon and looks beautifully placed. The daughter of Lonhro was a strong and consistent performer through her first couple of campaigns but broke through for a maiden win first-up in spring, and she’s perhaps unlucky not to be carrying winning form into this race after finishing a nose second at Hawkesbury three weeks ago. James McDonald is a bonus.
Several key scratchings including the Team Snowden-trained Spin has left Intuition as the one to beat in the Bert Lillye Memorial Handicap (1200m). The Street Cry gelding clearly needed the run when he finished seventh first-up at Warwick Farm in December, but his three subsequent runs have been good, and he was last seen recording a comfortable win down the Flemington straight. This does look a drop in class and he’s drawn ideally in barrier 3.
Pohutukawa has been racing extremely well this time and can continue Godolphin’s outstanding start to 2019 by winning the Kembla Grange Classic. The Medaglia D’oro filly stamped herself as one to watch in spring and ended her campaign with a win at Listed level, while her first-up run for third in the Group 2 Light Fingers Stakes this time was enormous. She was reasonably luckless before finishing fifth in the Group 1 Surround Stakes last time out, but she’ll appreciate this step back in class and looks tough to beat.
Blast resumed with an impressive performance to win at Wyong and he’ll take plenty of benefit into the last at Kembla today. The son of Dalakhani immediately stamped himself as a horse to follow when he worked home well to finish second at Randwick on debut last July, but his easy first-up win this time suggested that he has return a far-more furnished horse, and that he is in for a good preparation. He can continue his rise through the grades by winning this.