There are a number of meetings scheduled to take place on Saturday with plenty of action for punters to get stuck into.
Rosehill and Sandown are both set to play host to Group 3 action while there’s an 11-race card at Ascot.
Accredited @ 3.00
Miraval Rose @ 4.60
Skytalker @ 9.00
The eighth race of the day at Rosehill is the 1200m Group 3 Southern Cross Stakes, a race set to take place on a soft 5 track.
Marc Conner’s Willaidow showed good form last prep, winning three times from five starts and he is expected to feature prominently in the betting.
The six-year-old ended that prep with two victories on wet tracks, including by two lengths in a 1400m Benchmark 88 handicap here in September.
The gelding went on to salute by a narrow margin when contesting a similar event at Randwick the following month.
Those victories came on a soft 6 and soft 5 track respectively and he has trialled well ahead of his return to action.
Preference however is for the in-form ACCREDITED, who is the winner of each of his last three starts, including by three lengths in a small field 1200m event at Warwick Farm in early December.
Joe Pride’s gelding faced just five rivals in a Benchmark 72 handicap that day and went on to follow up when successful by a narrow margin over 1300m at Randwick later that month.
The five-year-old delivered an impressive four-length victory when jumping at $1.60 for his most recent start, which came in a 1400m Benchmark 88 handicap at Randwick early last month.
While all three of those victories came on a good 4 surface, the gelding handlers softer conditions and is taken to register his first Group race success.
The Group 3 Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes over 1200m comes up as the ninth race of the day at Sandown.
A good 4 track is expected for the race, with She’s Bulletproof expected to jump as favourite for the Charlotte Littlefield stable.
The four-year-old impressed when winning by six lengths in a 1200m Benchmark 80 handicap at Moonee Valley in October.
This filly has since delivered good efforts in defeat, including when runner-up in the Group 3 How Now Stakes over this distance at Caulfield the following month.
Mark Zahra takes the ride here with his mount arriving here on the back of a narrow defeat in the Listed Black Pearl Stakes over this distance at Geelong early last month.
MIRAVAL ROSE is the pick on this occasion however, with the filly having registered two good third-place finishes prior to winning at Flemington at the start of last month.
The second of those third-place finishes saw her beaten just over a length in the Magic Millions Vic 3 & 4yo Classic over this distance on the Heath track at Caulfield.
This four-year-old raced wide and without cover that day and returned to winning ways, stepping up to 1400m for the Listed Kensington Stakes at Flemington.
Grahame Begg’s representative has been freshened since that Listed success and she has a good barrier two from the rail here.
Top hoop Craig Williams, on board last time out, is again set to ride and he can partner the filly to her fourth win in 11 career starts.
Trainer Indianna Weiner has saddled four winners so far in 2025 and her SKYTALKER goes in search of winner number five for the handler in the eighth race at Ascot.
This race in question is a 1500m handicap restricted to horses with one metro win, with her gelding heading into this contest on the back of second-place finishes in two of his last three starts.
The most recent of those saw him beaten just under one-and-a-half-lengths when contesting a Class 1 handicap over 1400m at this venue.
Skytalker shaped as if a step up in distance would suit when racing on a good 4 track that day and he is set to race on similar going here.
Brayden Gaerth takes two kilograms off Skytalker’s back, with his mount looking capable of scoring from barrier nine.