Australian Racing: Melidesh to impress at Pakenham

There are four meetings scheduled to take place on Monday including at Pakenham, where they are set to race on the synthetic track.

They also race at Corowa, Northam and Warren.

Race 7 Pakenham

Melidesh @ 3.80

Race 6 Northam

Date Withthe Devil @ 10.00

Race 5 Warren

Southerly Buster @ 2.40

Hayes gelding looks good for glory

The penultimate race of the day at Pakenham is an 1100m Benchmark 64 handicap event.

Top weight Appointed is expected to jump as favourite for the Anthony & Sam Freedman team, having shown good form in metro races in his last two starts.

Those two starts include a narrow win in a small field Benchmark 64 handicap over 1000m when racing on the Heath course at Caulfield in April.

The three-year-old backed that effort up with a fourth in a Benchmark 70 event held over the same course and distance last month.

Jye McNeil is set to ride the gelding on his synthetic track debut and, while he holds obvious claims, he is expected to struggle in conceding weight to MELIDESH.

The year-older selection has finished in the first three in each of his last four starts, including when saluting over 1200m at Ballarat three starts back.

The gelding contested a Benchmark 0-58 handicap that day and has since proven that shorter distances are no issue.

The 3.80 son of I Am Invincible arrives here on the back of a good third in a 1000m Benchmark 58 handicap at Mornington three weeks ago.

Notably the previously mentioned Ballarat triumph came on the synthetic track, with that win taking the pick’s record on artificial surfaces to two wins from two starts.

Trained by Ben, Will & JD Hayes the selection is a previous synthetic track winner here and he looks up to recording a victory under Ben Allen.

Devil has Date with destiny at Northam

In Western Australia they are set to race on a soft 5 track at Northam, with the sixth race of the day the Class 3 Northam Traders Sprint over 1300m.

Mighty Hosanan is expected to have her supporters, having shown up well in metro contests so far this prep.

The three-year-old has won twice this time around including in impressive fashion over 1100m when breaking her maiden at Ascot first up this prep.

The daughter of Toronado's most recent victory came by nearly two lengths in a Class 1 handicap at Belmont last time out.

The youngster raced over 1200m that day and rates highly on just her second start over this distance.

Lucy Fiore’s mount DATE WITHTHE DEVIL is the pick here, however, as he bids to record his second win in nine career starts.

The four-year-old has gone well at this venue in the past placing third in a track and trip maiden held on a wet track on his seasonal debut back in August.

The gelding went on to salute over 1400m at Kalgoorlile and registered one of his best efforts since when resuming with a Pinjarra second in April.

The 10.00 selection was beaten a length into second when contesting a 1200m Class 3 handicap on that occasion.

The son of Playing God disappointed when down the field over 1500m on the Scarpside track back at Pinjarra just over a month ago, however.

The pick has been freshened since that disappointing effort and is taken to record the second win of his career.

Buster to register Warren win

The fifth race of the day at Warren is a 1600m Class 1 & Maiden Plate set to take place on a soft 5 track.

The New Zealand-bred SOUTHERLY BUSTER takes the eye here, having shown up good form in three of his four starts to date.

Third in maiden races at Newcastle on his first two starts, the gelding broke through for his first win when saluting at Tamworth last month.

The 2.40 selection came home just over two lengths clear of his rivals in a 1600m event that day, having disappointed when seventh over 1850m at Newcastle prior.

Leeshelle Small's two-kilogram claim is a positive in this contest, while any softening of the forecast going would be a further positive.

Trained by Scott Singleton, the pick has been allocated a good barrier here and is taken to complete a double.