The Stars to Shine at Cannington
A huge night of chasing lies ahead at Cannington with 7 heats of the Group 1 Perth Cup and 4 heats of the Group 1 Sky Racing Galaxy.
Boom Victorian sprinter Shima Shine is the $4.50 pre-post series favourite for the Perth Cup on the fixed odds with TABtouch in front of fellow Victorian Tiggerlong Tonk at $5.50, Stout Monelli at $10, Rippin’ Memphis at $14, Projectory at $16 and then a string of runners at $21.
Shima Shine, a winner at 32 of his 54 starts is chasing his third Group 1 victory having previously tasted the ultimate glory in the Group 1 2020 Top Gun and 2021 Group 1 Gold Bullion.
The son of Barcia Bale and Shima Song has been one of the stars of Australian chasing over the past 12 months and he is the proven topliner in the series.
The Andrea Dailly trained speed demon has drawn box five in his heat, the only box he has never won from, albeit he has only ever had 2 tries from the draw.
He has been backed from $1.90 in to $1.85 on the Fixed Odds with TABtouch to win his heat this evening.
Fellow Victorian Tiggerlong Tonk was runner up to WA star Tommy Shelby in last year’s Hobart 1000 final and he has drawn box four in the first heat.
He had his first look at the Cannington circuit last week when runner-up behind Chimera Monelli in a Perth Cup Prelude in 29.78 seconds and is likely to be improved for the outing.
Young gun Stout Monelli will have to overcome the draw in box six in the fourth Perth Cup heat to qualify for the final but has put together a quality record to this point starting 18 times for 11 wins and 5 placings.
There are a number of very open Cup heats and I thought Wise Thunder in race 10 looked a strong hope to qualify for the final.
The Michael Hine trained sprinter has been racing consistently and with his customary speedy getaway he should get every chance to qualify for the final.
The Group 1 Galaxy series also has some outstanding talent engaged and the pre-post market sees Zack Monelli as the $2.40 favourite, in front of Sunset Bourbski at $4, Cindy’s Oliver at $5.25, Barefoot Tycoon at $8, Jayville Slick at $12, Rostered Off at $14 and all other runner $16 and upwards.
The first Galaxy heat is the deepest with less than $2 in betting separating Barefoot Tycoon, Cindy’s Oliver, Jayville Slick and Rostered Off at the head of the market.
I have a big opinion of Barefoot Tycoon as a stayer of the future and Cindy’s Oliver is one of WA’s most versatile and consistent chasers in work. Jayville Slick is drawn to get the favours and Rostered Off’s best work in Victoria measures up nicely here.
The second heat looks a Zack Monelli benefit race. Zack has won all four starts over the 715 metre trip at Cannington and his win over Sunset Bourbski in 41.73 seconds in the Galaxy Prelude last week was most impressive. With a clear run he simply runs times this opposition cannot keep up with. He is the $1.20 fixed odds favourite to take out the second heat.
It is a similar story in the third heat where the strong finishing Sunset Bourbski is the $1.45 fixed odds favourite. While she gets back she does possess a paralysing finishing burst and with average racing luck she is likely to be too strong over the concluding stages.
In the final Galaxy heat He Shall Power is the $2.30 favourite in front of Van Buren at $2.80 and Mister Harlewood at $5.
He Shall Power has run some tremendous races in Victoria against some of Australia’s best stayers and if he can recapture form anywhere close to that he will take some stopping.
On what is a superb night of chasing my better bets are race 8 number 3 He Shall Power, race 10 number 4 Wise Thunder and race 11 number 2 Jackson County each way.
David Shortte