Sunday’s jumping comes from Casterton in the far west of Victoria. Casterton is home to Australia’s finest steeplechase course, with the horses jumping over live hedges in open country near where the Glenelg and Wannon rivers meet.
The steeplechase makes for a magnificent spectacle, but from a punting point of view, you need to be looking for sound jumpers and form on the course is important.
The hurdle course is vastly different as those races are run on the Casterton course proper. It is a narrow, tight turning track where it can be hard to make up ground. There are two hurdles in the short home straight so races can change complexion rapidly in the closing stages. The track also drains very well, so the ground is seldom worse than soft.
There are four jumping races programmed for Sunday, my tip for each is below.
Race 1 – Maiden Hurdle (3480m), 11.50am
There are several capable jumpers here but Tolemac is the obvious top pick for me. He ran very well on debut at the Warrnambool carnival, only getting beaten by a capable looking stablemate Rider in the Snow. Symon Wilde’s horses are running through brick walls at present.
Strategy: Back Tolemac.
Race 2 – Maiden Hurdle, 3480m (12.25pm)
This is tough. Capellani is clearly going better in Australia than he was in New Zealand, but his hurdle form over there was pretty ordinary. The booking of Steve Pateman is noteworthy. Dubawi Prince is an interesting debutant, he comes off a last start flat win and I liked his most recent trial. The mares, Hakuna Matata and Onset could end up fighting this out. Lean towards the latter and she is excellent value at double figure odds.
Strategy: Back Onset.
Race 3 – Open Hurdle, 3480m (1.05pm)
This is a really open race with some promising hurdlers engaged. Hate to say it but I might not even bet here, it’s that open. I’d probably lean slightly to Hush Writer as my top pick, but any of Tamarack, Serenade The Stars, Lord Pierro, Count Zero and Roland Garros could win without surprising.
Strategy: No bet.
Race 4 – Two Rivers Steeplechase, 3800m (1.45pm)
Elvison is the clear top pick here. He ran a terrific race to finish second at the Warrnambool Carnival and he has won around this track. Looks pretty well in with 67Kg. He’s the best bet of the day.
Strategy: Back Elvison.
