TRAVIS HARRISON CUP - 1600m, Moonee Valley R7
The Travis Harrison Cup at Moonee Valley is the best race on a limited set of Eastern seaboard cards on Saturday. It’s a benchmark 100 held over 1600m, held in honour of an apprentice jockey who tragically died at the age of 18 in 1996. The Moonee Valley Racing Club hosts the race given Harrison’s biggest feature win was at the track.
The race has attracted a handy set of gallopers, and the early market suggests those on the minimum weight are the horses to beat, with all five horses allotted 53kg’s being $10 or less.
Chief Altony is the early favourite, having found the line well at this last two starts in lower grade, albeit carrying much higher weights than he will have to here. He’ll be rock hard fit now, races well at the Valley, and will appreciate a 6kg weight drop from previous outings.
Royal Mile has a good second-up record, and will get his chance to improve on it here. He is quickly up to 1600m from his 1200m first-up run, but he has won under those circumstances before.
Pascero, like many from the Busuttin & Young stable, mixes his form. He’s been chasing good tracks up in Sydney after not being able to get the job done on softer decks in Melbourne, and got his win north of the border two starts back. It should be firm for him on Saturday, but he’s hard to trust.
Urban Oasis and French Emperor are the emergencies, but will have claims if they get in. Urban Oasis in particular is the interesting runner, first-up in Australia for Nick Ryan. If the money comes for him, it may well pay to follow it, and even more so if Ryan scratches his outsider Edison to get him in.
Jimmy The Bear announced himself this time last year, picking off four wins through winter and suggesting that he may be able to reach a decent level. It hasn’t quite panned out that way, and it’s coming up 12 months since he won a race, but despite starting favourite in the Winter Championship four weeks ago, he could do no better than fifth.
Frankie Pinot was third in that same race, coming from way back as is his wont. While that might be okay at Flemington, doing so at Moonee Valley on virgin turf is another story, but he does have a nice weight swing.
Junipal made no impression in the Winter Championship, but has performed well in better races than this in his career. Perhaps he was flat second-up after a long break, and he was good on resumption. He may well deserve another chance at big odds, but would enjoy some cushion.
What a marvel So Si Bon is, a week away from turning 10 and nearing his 100th start. It’s easy to forget that he was placed three times at Group 1 level as a younger horse, and he’s been incredibly honest this campaign. His recent placings behind the likes of Gunstock and Foxy Frida stack up well here.
Chances can be given to Bullfinch and The Summit too. Bullfinch has the talent to win a race like this, but is up and down, so you have to take him on trust. The Summit was only fair first-up in Australia but his record suggests he improves with a run, so is on the watch list.
There’s not an abundance of natural speed engaged, so it might be left to a So Si Bon or a horribly out-of-form Edison to take up the running, and the race may turn into a tactical affair depending on how the track is playing.
Selections: 1.So Si Bon 2.Chief Altony 3.Urban Oasis 4.Frankie Pinot
SO SI BON
EACH-WAY
* Odds Correct At Time Of Posting. Check Playup Website For Latest Odds
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