The Spring Carnival is just around the corner and Saturday’s Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes at Caulfield really kicks it all into gear, for mine.
Boy this race has had some world class winners and even though Saturday’s Bletchingly Stakes field is small, the depth of talent suggests that we’re in for another outstanding edition of the feature race.
My 2019 Bletchingly Stakes tips can be found below.
Suggested Bets
- 2 Units E/W #3 Cliff’s Edge
- Boxed Trifecta of the selections below
Multiple black type winner Cliff’s Edge hasn’t been seen at the races since November, nor for any trainer other than Darren Weir, but he is obviously a classy type and I think that he is over the odds to win the Bletchingly Stakes at $7.50. The Canford Cliffs entire returned to the track in typically pleasing form last spring and recorded an all-the-way win in the Group 2 Crystal Mile before ending his campaign sixth in the Group 1 Cantala most notably. He’s trialled well in the lead-up to this and can go straight to the lead from barrier 5. I think he’s every chance of running away from them in the straight.
Sesar is clearly and excellent wet-tracker and will take plenty of improvement into his second-up run in the Bletchingly, but I just cannot have him as short as $1.80. The former Queenslander is a Group 2 winner over 1200m and returned a pleasing effort to win the Listed Winter Dash at Randwick last month, which was also his first start for Team Hawkes. Other than a go down the straight in last year’s Coolmore, he’s never raced at the Victorian way of going; perhaps he won’t like it? Either way, too short.
Miss Vixen has been a model of consistency this time and while I don’t think that she’s quite up to winning the Bletchingly, I don’t really see a reason why she can’t be competitive. The stable star of Cindy Alderson, Miss Vixen finished second in both the Vobis Gold Sprint at this track and distance and the Group 3 Proud Miss Stakes earlier this prep and was last seen beating a decent field to the line here a fortnight ago. She’s rock-hard fit and has Willo in the saddle, which I think will be a bonus in this.
Group 1 winner Scales Of Justice isn’t what he once was, but I thought that his jump-out at Ballarat earlier this week was good and he does look a live chance of running a place at a nice each-way price ($11/$2.50 at publish). This bloke has returned Lindsay Smith plenty of outstanding results throughout his career, obviously highlighted by the 2016 Railway, and his class could carry him along way in a feature race like this one.