There are just three meetings scheduled to take place on Monday including at Ascot, where seven races are on the card.
They also race at Dubbo and Muswellbrook.
Golden Dore @ 3.80
Island Legend @ 8.00
Touch Of Navy @ 3.50
The finale at Ascot is a 1400m Class 3 handicap expected to take place on a good 4 surface.
Neville Parnham’s Show The Way is expected to feature prominently in the betting following placed efforts at this venue in two of his last three starts.
The most recent of those saw the gelding lose out narrowly when runner-up in a 1200m set weights contest here last month.
The three-year-old raced on a good 4 track that day and he is set to jump from barrier seven in this contest.
The year older GOLDEN DORE is the pick on this occasion, however, having won two of his six starts to date.
The gelding has finished outside the first three just one in those six starts, coming home sixth when beaten just over one-and-a-half-lengths over 1200m at Belmont in November.
The 3.80 pick resumed with an impressive three-length victory in a 1230m Class 2 handicap held on a good 3 surface at Albany last month.
Trained by David Hopperton, he went on to register a good length third when contesting a Class 3 handicap over 1200m at this venue 11 days later.
The son of Denman missed the break on that occasion and, jumping from a good barrier, is taken to return to winning ways stepping up in distance.
A good 4 track is expected at Dubbo with the fifth race on the card a 1300m Benchmark 58 handicap.
Rubi Air is expected to have her supporters for the Clayton Gallagher stable, with the mare a winner at this venue earlier this season.
That victory came over 1100m in a Benchmark 66 handicap held on a soft 7 surface and while she has been unable to score in three starts since she did finish third at Orange last month.
That Orange third came over 1280m when ridden by her jockey here Clayton Gallagher and he returns to the plate having been absent when the mare finished sixth here four days later.
However, the Nikki Hodgson-trained ISLAND LEGEND is preferred on this occasion, having registered three top-two efforts from four starts this time around.
The most recent of those efforts saw the gelding triumph by a narrow margin when contesting a 1258m Benchmark 66 handicap at Taree in December.
The 8.00 son of Capitalist raced on a good 4 surface that day and he failed to shine on a soft 6 when eighth of nine over 1300m at the same venue subsequently.
The return to a forecast good 4 track is a positive here and he looks capable of providing apprentice Jack Baker with a winner.
The fourth at Muswellbrook is an interesting 1280m Benchmark 82 handicap expected to take place on a good 4 surface.
TOUCH OF NAVY is set to make his first start back from a spell, having demonstrated good form in 2024.
The five-year-old’s efforts last year included three wins, with the second of those coming on this track and over this trip in the Bengalla Cup at the end of July.
The 3.50 pick raced on a heavy 9 surface that day, but has also proven he is effective on quicker going including when third in a 1600m Benchmark 82 handicap at Scone in August.
The gelding went on to place second over 1400m at Mudgee the following month and, while he failed to shine at Dubbo on his latest outing, it’s of note that he jumped at $101 that day.
John Bannister’s representative has had a couple of barrier trials ahead of his return to action and he looks up to resuming with a win, with Leeshelle Small’s three-kilogram claim a positive here.