Kicking off my day with a horse that has been knocking on the door of a win since resuming, Mr Trafficanti.
Mr Trafficanti dusted off the cobwebs with a fair effort to finish sixth at Geelong back in September, but he has since finished off well for consecutive second placings in similar maidens.
He looks to be in peak condition today and might not be offered a better opportunity to win than this.
Calico Jack should be stepping out in peak fitness this afternoon, and this does look a very winnable race for him.
The Maher & Eustace-trained galloper returned some nice efforts last time in, winning three races not dissimilar to this one most notably, while finding form around some good horses.
He has stripped fitter with each run back this time and wasn’t disgraced in town, and this does look to be the weakest task that he has been set.
Maktoob was excellent on his way to winning at Caulfield last time out, and he’s the one for me in this afternoon’s Sale Cup.
Maktoob has improved noticeably with each of his three runs back from a break, and he filled the minors behind the in-form Muramasa at Flemington before giving nothing else a chance at his latest.
He’s hard fit and I thought that this looked the perfect feature race for him.
There looks to be a few winning chances engaged in this race, but Aperitivo is the one for me at current odds ($4.80 at publish).
Aperitivo hit the line to record a smart win over 1400m at Cranbourne two starts back, and she was only a length behind the winner in Saturday metro company in Adelaide at her latest.
She’s another that looks to be in peak order today, and she should get every chance under Daniel Stackhouse.