Australian Racing: Ballarat pick capable of Delivering

There are four meetings set to take place on Thursday, including at Ipswich where eight races are scheduled.

Race 6 Ipswich

Quest Of Quests @ 3.20

Race 9 Ballarat

Delivering @ 7.00

Race 3 Kembla Grange

Fleet Commander @ 4.60

Quest for Ipswich glory

The sixth race at Ipswich is a 1350m Benchmark 58 handicap set to take place on a soft 5 track.

Been A Secret is expected to have her supporters jumping from barrier three, having performed well at this venue when third in a 1200m maiden here in early July.

This four-year-old recorded her first win on the polytrack surface at Gold Coast and has recorded two solid efforts at Sunshine Coast subsequently.

The most recent of those efforts saw her finish just under three-lengths third in a 1400m Class 1 handicap on a good 4 track last month.

A slight drop in distance should pose no issue and she is less exposed than most of her rivals in this contest.

However, course regular QUEST OF QUESTS is the pick on this occasion, having won twice and placed second twice here from five starts.

The gelding’s sole non-top two finish here saw him beaten just under four lengths into fourth when contesting a 1666m Benchmark 60 handicap on a soft 5 track here at the start of April.

This son of Spill The Beans was spelled following that effort and has delivered two good efforts returned to sprinting this prep.

The five-year-old returned with a third, beaten just under two lengths in an 1100m Benchmark 58 handicap on a soft 5 track at Beaudesert last month.

Trained by Olivia Cairns, the selection appeared to appreciate the step up in distance when winning by 1200m in a Restricted 58 handicap here a week ago.

Ryan Maloney’s mount has a good barrier here, and having gone well at this distance in the past, he looks poised to deliver his third win at this venue.

Delivering to salute at Ballarat

The finale at Ballarat is a 1400m Benchmark 64 handicap event.

A soft 6 surface is expected for the race with the once-raced Fields Of Courage expected to start as favourite for the Mike Moroney & Glen Thompson stable.

The four-year-old debuted with a length victory when racing over 1300m on the Hillside track at Sandown in August.

Fields Of Courage has been freshened since that success, and while he rates highly on his first outing on a wet track, the in-form DELIVERING is the selection for Ciaron Maher.

Delivering has finished in the first two in each of his last five starts, with that run including two victories, the first of which came over 1400m in a Sandown Lakeside maiden in August.

The four-year-old recorded a narrow win that day and went on to place two-lengths second in a Benchmark 64 handicap over 1400m on the Hillside track there two weeks later.

This son of Justify returned to winning ways when successful by a length in Restricted 64 handicap over this distance at Cranbourne last month and he looks up to completing a double.

Commander for Kembla Grange success

A heavy 8 track is forecast for Kembla Grange, with the third race of the day a 2000m benchmark 64 handicap.

While FLEET COMMANDER has yet to race on a heavy surface, he has shown good form on soft ground in the past.

Fleet Commander’s soft ground efforts include a second in a 1900m handicap event held on a soft 5 surface at Canterbury in February.

The six-year-old arrives here on the back of two fourth place finishes, including when beaten just over two lengths in a Benchmark 72 handicap last month.

Bjorn Baker’s representative contested a metro event on the Kensington track at Randwick that day and, dropping to provincial racing, he is taken to return to winning ways.