SELECTIONS - 29 September 2006

POOMA selections:

Stawell 1-1 No Fuse

Non-POOMA selections (and ruffies in red below):

Moonee Valley 2-3
Rockhampton 2-1
Stawell 8-10
Tamworth 2-1

(* MV Updated*)

Today: Our POOMA comes up early with Stawell 1-1 No Fuse, which comes from one of my most successful systems. He steps up to Class 1 company after beating Peter Moody's Gold Delta last time at Ararat and faces nothing but Maidens. General Vandal is first up for the Moody stable and is probably the danger. Up at Rockhampton, 2-1 Cearnaigh comes from another very well performing systems though it's hard to get too excited about a horse that's won one from his last 16 starts. If I can get around $4.50 then I'd have a go. Tamworth 2-1 Designer Cleo drops in grade here and gets her chance to win another race. It's not much of a day to have a go. I'll have a look at the MV meeting when scratchings etc are in and update then. The Moonee Valley night meeting doesn't look a very good place to be having a real go. Outside of Spinney there's really nothing that stands out and he'll go around at short odds. 3-2 Dance Maiden has been racing handy and is unlucky to not have broken her duck yet being beaten less than 1/2 length at her last three runs. I'd be a bit surprised if she didn't run a place at least. In race 5, Belle Bizarre and Brockman's Lass appear to plummet in class but if you put the horse that beat them last time, Astrodame, in this field it'd start 10/1 so I'm a bit suspicious of how strong that form is. That said, Belle Bizarre will get a good run up on the pace and might be too good for them. Look for an improved run from Ulysses in that race. I thought that Ankh Morpork could beat them last time in the race in which Escadaire led all of the way. Off a slow tempo, Ankh Morpork got to the line really well and there'll be more pace here, which will suit him even better, as will the step up in trip. If he runs around at better than $12 then I'll have an each way go. Spinney looks the goods in race 7. He's down in class and weight, up to a more suitable trip and has drawn to get the right run. He's $2.80 on the morning line but I can't see how he'll start any more than $2.20. I'll be watching his run closely, as I want to see the Lad Of The Manor form franked or otherwise. In the last Aurelio gets his chance to lead all of the way and win a race. Damien Oliver has a good record at the Valley and this horse has good form in better races.

Yesterday: So there you go. The Stavka/Suspects/Yappa form works out almost beautifully with the wins of Stavka and Bon Hoffa, though Suspects raced ungenerously outside the leader in his race and weakened to finish 4th. Stavka showed what a really good horse he is by comfortably winning his 1100m Class 2 assignment in slick time. Make no mistake - this is a serious racehorse and, if he stays sound, is going to be similar to Takeover Target in putting together a sequence of wins and competing at the top level. I had a strong bet on him and was never worried. Poised To Win had a terrific run and really flogged them in Suspects' race. He is not a bad horse either and is definitely going to be competitive in midweek city class. Lottery King was my other big bet of the day and he duly got the money albeit narrowly with Blake Shinn having to mollycoddle him to the line, as he was running in under pressure. He didn't have much weight and really didn't ping in the straight so I'd suggest that, while he was too good for an average field yesterday, he's probably not a city class horse. Bon Hoffa, who beat Yappa at his last run, won the last by 3/4 length and is definitely up to city class. In a slowly run affair there was never going to be a big winning margin but he always looked to be travelling nicely and had the leader covered a long way out.

POOMAs: 3 wins from 4 selections returning $7 total taking POOMAs to 36/69 since focusing on Victorian racing only two months ago.