A hugely successful Adelaide carnival reaches its crescendo with the running of the Darley Goodwood (Race 7) over 1200m at Morphettville on Saturday.
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The South Australian State Government’s decision to boost prizemoney levels has attracted some strong fields and plenty of interstate interest and this weekend’s feature is certainly no exception.
One of the country’s most popular gallopers, Black Heart Bart is back to defend the title he won here in pretty resounding fashion last year.
He’ll have to defy history though, as the Goodwood hasn’t had a repeat winner for over a century.
Bart’s win here represented a maiden Group 1 triumph but under the tutelage of Darren Weir, the bay has gone on to capture another four majors in a stellar 12 month period.
Eschewing a campaign in Sydney, the horse has had a decent freshen up since his heart-in-the-mouth win in the Futurity but worked well under Brad Rawiller last week and appears ready to go.
Curiously, despite drawing identically in two, the horse has been a noticeable drifter in betting since the final field was announced on Tuesday.
This is perhaps a reflection on the strength of opposition than any real lack of confidence in the horse though.
In at Unibet headquarters, our traders bounced back from a horrific opening to the carnival courtesy of upset results in the Adelaide Guineas and SA Derby last weekend.
As a result, we reckon the ledger is now about square, but we’ll need to get Bart beat in order to pay the bills.
Second pick Vega Magic has been the subject of concerted interest over the past couple of weeks and easily represents the worst way in our book three days out from the race.
Formerly with Sean Casey, this chestnut has done all of his racing to date in Perth to date and will be making his first start for the Hayes-Dabernig team.
Unraced since December, our spies liked the look of his work at Flemington recently and we’re expecting him to run extremely well.
Craig Williams has been booked for the ride and should be able to take up a forward spot from six.
Mick Price’s Secret Agenda comes off a brilliant front-running win in the Robert Sangster Stakes over the same trip a fortnight ago.
The likes of Platelet (2013) and the mighty Black Caviar (2012) have been able to complete this particular double in recent times, which should give the camp plenty of confidence.
Of the others, Malaguerra is a proven Group 1 performer and deserves plenty of respect.
He was soundly beaten in the TJ Smith on a heavy track but might be better suited here with the surface currently rated a Good 4.
It’s also worth noting he had the better of Bart when they last met over 1200m, in the Australia Stakes at Moonee Valley.
With no locally trained horses successful since the race switched from a Handicap to a Set Weights & Penalties race a decade ago, Lloyd Kennewell’s Viddora might represent the best chance for the Croweaters to break their drought.
Her recent efforts have been excellent and there was plenty of merit in her run behind Secret Agenda last time out.
We were also interested in the performance of WA-visitor First Among Equals, who has a strong second-up record and should be all the better for a hard-fought win in the Northam Stakes.
The wide draw (16) won’t do him any favours though and the same sentiment applies to Australian Guineas winner Hey Doc (21) who has the task ahead dropping back to six furlongs here.
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TIPS:
- Black Heart Bart
- Vega Magic
- Secret Agenda
- Malaguerra
