2020 Winter Dash Day Tips & Preview
Southern Lad. Photo By Steve Hart.

2020 Winter Dash Day Tips & Preview

There are nine races to sum up at Royal Randwick this Saturday including the Winter Dash as the feature event.

We’ve done the work for you and you can follow us in by taking a gander below.

Race 1: Magna Grecia New To Coolmore Handicap (1500m) 11:30am
No. 2 Silhouette

This is a difficult start to the day but I’m happy to be with the Godolphin Blue.

Silhouette broke through for her maiden win in impressive fashion last time out at Warwick Farm and has drawn well in barrier five.

Like every Saturday, we should be keeping an eye on the weather but she seems to handle the heavy going with aplomb.

 

Race 2: Highway Handicap (1200m) 12:05pm
No. 5 Keen Power

Matt Dunn has been on fire in the Highway Races in recent weeks and he saddles up the talented three year old gelding Keen Power this week.

He has attempted to win this Highway Race at his past two races and has only been narrowly denied.

With James McDonald climbing aboard for the first time, he is every chance to be in the finish yet again.

Race 3: Grunt Standing At Yulong Handicap (1000m) 12:40pm
No. 3 Broken Arrows & No. 7 Longbottom

Broken Arrows has won just three times from 18 career starts but rarely runs a bad race.

He has been unplaced just five times in his career and looks ready to break through at this stage in his prep in a race like this.

Longbottom meets his stablemate Witherspoon much better at the weights than their last encounter and she has drawn well in barrier three with McDonald steering.

Race 4: Castelvecchio At Arrowfield Handicap (2000m) 1:15pm
No. 1 Mount Popa

Mount Popa was excellent on debut in Australia when he ran fourth at Flemington beaten only 1.25 lengths behind Honey Espirit.

Holbien ran second in that race and has since come out and won so I think the form will hold up in a race like this.

He will only get better with more runs under his belt and as he goes up in distance but he is worth a nibble in this event.

best bet
Race 5: Bentley Winter Dash (1200m) 1:50pm
No. 7 Southern Lad

Southern Lad looks the one to me in the feature race of the day at Randwick.

Having won five of his 21 career race starts, he has been racing very consistently this time in.

He has placed in all three runs including a narrow defeat to Classique Legend last time out and the step up to 1200m will suit.

With that build up, he should be ready to peak now and the fact that James McDonald has jumped off Viridine to ride the horse is a good enough push to have mine.

Race 6: Heineken 3 Handicap (1200m) 2:25pm
No. 9 Threeood

Threeood is racing in great form this prep with three wins and a further three placings from six starts.

I love when the young mares get into form as they are so honest and she again looks one of the main chances with James McDonald riding from barrier five.

Race 7: Benchmark 78 Handicap (1200m) 3:05pm
No. 3 Superium

This looks a very winnable race for Superium after running really well in his first two starts this prep in pretty hot races.

He will appreciate the step back in class for this assignment and has drawn to get a lovely run in transit.

Race 8: Ranvet Handicap (1600m) 3:45pm
No. 4 Mr Dependable

Mr Dependable has again drawn wide for this race but like we saw at Rosehill last start, it should not be a problem.

He is very quick out of the barriers and he will appreciate the step up in distance.

Race 9: Sky Racing Active Handicap (1400m) 4:25pm
No. 7 Juventus

Barrier 1 was not good to Juventus last start as he was shuffled back in the field but I think Hugh Bowman will look for a position a bit closer to the speed in this race.

He was beaten only 2.5 lengths behind True Detective in the race and that horse has come out and won again since then.