After cleaning up in Saturday night’s Group 2 Cranbourne Cup final, form expert The Watchdog is confident about repeating the dose in tonight’s G1 TAB Hume Cup final (600m) at The Meadows.
The Watchdog says TAB has the market right, with Andrea Dailly’s Gypsy Wyong (Box 1) a dominant $2.70 favourite, agreeing the track specialist (4 from 5 Trk/Dst) is clearly the one to beat in the middle distance feature.
“That’s the right price, she should be favourite, she’s my pick,” said The Watchdog.
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“From the red draw in the final, she’s going to get the race run to suit. I expect Mr. Speaker (Box 2) to miss the kick, Mirror Illusion (Box 3) to begin well and probably assume control early and Gypsy Wyong should be able to sit second or third behind the leader and she’ll be very strong in the run home. She’s going to get every chance.”
While Mr. Speaker, trained by Josh Formosa, produced the fastest heat performance, The Watchdog also believes $9.50 is the correct quote and he’s prepared to risk the enigmatic talent.
“The concern with him is that he doesn’t always produce that form and he can be a tad hard to follow. With that speed on his outside, he might find a little bit of bother in the run to the first turn.”
In identifying the dangers to Gypsy Wyong, The Watchdog believes middle distance newcomer Mirror Illusion, prepared by Kate Gorman, is the likely leader and can give her rivals something to chase at an appealing $10.
He also expects Brendan Pursell’s G1 Sale Cup placegetter Bobby The Brute (Box 8) to make his presence felt at $8.50 with luck from the outside alley.
“Gypsy Wyong should be able to sit second or third behind the leader and she’ll be very strong in the run home.”
“I think Mirror Illusion will lead them up, she’s getting stronger with every go over this trip and is going to give a great sight,” The Watchdog said.
“Bobby The Brute has the ability to win a race like this. He was huge in his heat, he had to overcome difficulties mid-race and gave some really good dogs a start and a beating. He’s got to be respected.”
In addition to coming up with eventual winner Koblenz in his ‘All In’ Cranbourne Cup prediction, The Watchdog collected on his Exacta and Trifecta investments at Cranbourne on Saturday and is adopting a similar approach in the Hume Cup.
GROUP 1 HUME CUP FINAL
Monday 1 November, 9.15pm – 600m
1 GYPSY WYONG (Andrea Dailly, Anakie)
2 MR. SPEAKER (Josh Formosa, Anakie)
3 MIRROR ILLUSION (Kate Gorman, Tanjil South)
4 GYPSY URANA (Andrea Dailly, Anakie)
5 KNICKS BALE (Samantha Grenfell, Anakie)
6 MEPUNGA WARRIOR (Jeff Britton, Anakie)
7 BOUNCE BACK (David Geall, Lara)
8 BOBBY THE BRUTE (Brendan Pursell, Lara)
Reserves
9 UNTAPPED (Dustin Drew, Dennington)
10 GRACLYN BALE (Mark Delbridge, Balliang)
The Watchdog’s $20 spend
$9 Exacta: 1,3,8/1,3,4,5,8 (75%)
$11 Trifecta: 1/3,4,5,8/2,3,4,5,7,8 (55%)
One of Australia’s leading greyhound racing journalists since 2000 with the Greyhound Recorder and now with Greyhound Racing Victoria. Part-owner 2013 Group 1 Paws Of Thunder winner Sheikha. (The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of GRV)
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