Australian Racing: Mystery Blonde catches the eye

There are two meetings scheduled to take place on Tuesday with Newcastle and Yarra Glen hosting eight-race cards.

Race 3 Newcastle

Tenniel @ 5.50

Race 7 Newcastle

Missile Charm @ 8.00

Race 6 Yarra Valley

Mystery Blonde @ 3.80

Tenniel to salute at Newcastle

A soft 5 track is expected at Newcastle with the third race on the card a 2300m Benchmark 64 handicap.

Prized Icon gelding Montgomery is expected to jump as favourite as he seeks his first victory since saluting over 2200m in a Class 1 at Nowra in June last year.

The four-year-old raced on a heavy 9 track that day and, while he went on to finish second here subsequently, he hasn’t been at his best so far this prep.

John Thompson’s representative delivered his best effort this time around when third over 2100m in a Benchmark 64 handicap at Wyong on his penultimate start.

Zac Lloyd, on board that day, was again in the saddle when the gelding finished a well beaten fifth of seven in a Benchmark 64 handicap over 2200m at Warwick Farm a week later.

While the extra 100m may bring about improvement, the gelding looks opposable in what looks a competitive event.

TENNIEL demonstrated good form on wet tracks last prep, including when completing a double in taking out a 2000m Class 1 event on a heavy 8 at Hawkesbury in July.

The filly ended that prep with a solid fourth, beaten less than four lengths over 2200m in a Benchmark 72 handicap at Warwick Farm at the end of July.

Trained by Annabel Neasham & Rob Archibald, the filly returned to action over an inadequate 1600m at Hawkesbury last month.

Racing at Benchmark 68 level, the four-year-old was beaten nearly seven lengths in finishing sixth of eight.

However, she demonstrated improvement stepped up to 2000m when finishing half-a-half-length second in a Benchmark 70 handicap at Canberra subsequently.

Alysha Collett, on board at Canberra, is again set to ride and her mount is taken to go one better racing in blinkers for the first time this prep.

Missile Charm to fire

The seventh race at Newcastle is a 1200m Class 1 handicap event, with the once-race Merchant Empire expected to feature prominently in the betting.

Trained by Richard & Will Freedman, the four-year-old demonstrated improvement with racing in his barrier trials prior to making his debut at Wyong just under a year ago.

The four-year-old came home in front when contesting a nine-runner 1200m event held on a good 4 track that day.

Off the track since, the son of Merchant Navy has placed in a couple of barrier trials in recent weeks and rates highly on his return from an absence.

Zac Lloyd’s mount will have to overcome barrier nine if he is to take this however and MISSILE CHARM is preferred for the Nathan Doyle stable.

The filly broke through for her first win when successful by half-a-length in a 1300m maiden held on a soft 6 track last month.

Missile Charm had debuted with a third in a 1000m maiden at Port Macquarie and she returned to the same venue for a Benchmark 58 handicap earlier this month.

The three-year-old was beaten just over two lengths when finishing fourth in that Benchmark 58 handicap, doing best of those to race from off the pace.

Ashley Morgan, on board for Missile Charm’s first two starts, returns to the saddle here and can steer her to victory from barrier four.

Mystery Blonde to salute at Yarra Valley

The sixth race at Yarra Valley is a 1009m Benchmark 58 handicap expected to take place on a soft 5 track.

Julius Sandhu’s MYSTERY BLONDE broke through for her first win at Cranbourne in March last year.

Racing on a good 4 track, the filly got home by just under half-a-length when racing over 1000m and she has shown good form in two starts since returning from a spell.

The four-year-old has placed second in both starts this time around, with the most recent of those efforts coming in a similar race to this over track and trip earlier this month.

Mystery Blonde raced on a good 3 track that day, with the softer conditions expected here unlikely to pose too many issues.

The daughter of Sepoy has a decent barrier in seven and looks up to returning to winning ways under Jamie Mott.