It’s a pretty stock standard card of metropolitan racing tonight at The Meadows, with He’s A Pearl and Barefoot Zulu the biggest names within.

Then at Shepparton tonight there’s more qualifiers for next Friday’s Pink Diamond finals at Bendigo. There’s two races that you can’t miss, Race 6 with the undefeated Liddell against Sharapova Star then Race 7 and the heavyweight contest between Dewana Star and Deadly Avenger.

Then there’s tomorrow, the Big Freeze event at The ‘Ville which will be live streamed on the Watchdog App and Healesville’s Facebook page.

BEST
Race 4, Barefoot Zulu (8)
He’s a flip of a coin odds and he’s probably a better chance than that to win the race. The draw suits him well and while some of the others are handy, they’re not at the level of Barefoot Zulu. He should begin cleanly, take over from there and not be caught.

NEXT BEST
Race 7, Paw Monet (3)
She’s got elite acceleration and should lead this race without challenge. She will lose ground to them late in the race, but I’m expecting that she’s got enough of a gap on them to hold on. The others aren’t as good as what she’s met in her past few.

VALUE
Race 8, Lightning Speed (8)
It’s a good field, but there’s potential it could be disrupted by Aston Summit (1), who can begin fast and push wide instantly. Lightning Speed begins very well and loves it wide, the draw is perfect. At double figure odds she’s worth a roll of the dice.

WORTH THE RISK/TAKE ON
Race 3, Champlain (5)
Not an easy night to find a lay at short odds, but I’ve settled on Champlain. I thought her win last start was only tame, plus was her first win in her past 19 starts. The opposition tonight isn’t too bad, so at $2.60 I’d be content to take her on.