Australian Racing: Mr Marigold to impress at Ballarat

There are three meetings set to take place on Monday, including at Ballarat, where an eight-race card is scheduled.

They also race at Ballina and Corowa.

Race 4 Ballarat

Mr Marigold @ 8.00

Race 5 Ballina

Zaynudin @ 5.00

Race 6 Corowa

Brenlyn's Daisy @ 2.80

Marigold to salute at Ballarat

The fourth race of the day at Ballarat is the most valuable contest with a field of 13 set to go to post for a maiden over 1400m.

Greg Eurell’s debutant Shifter is expected to jump as favourite on his first start, having shown ability in a couple of jumpouts.

The first of those saw the gelding finish sixth when contesting an 800m event held on a soft 5 track at Cranbourne in September.

The three-year-old showed improvement to score over 1000m when competing on a good 4 track at the same venue the following month.

The son of Turn Me Loose tackles more experienced rivals here and with that in mind MR MARIGOLD is preferred.

The selection has registered top-three finishes in three of his five starts to date, including in each of his last two outings.

The first of those saw him beaten three lengths into second when contesting a 1111m maiden on a soft 6 track at Moe.

The 8.00 pick followed that effort up with a two length third in an 1100m maiden held on a soft 7 surface at the same venue last month.

The gelding jumped at $51 for his only previous start on a good 4 track and, with Daniel Stackhouse up, he looks capable of breaking his maiden stepping up in distance.

Zaynudin can deliver Ballina win

The fifth race at Ballina is a 2670m Benchmark 58 handicap contest.

A good 4 track is expected for the race, with Ausbred Cooee expected to feature prominently in the betting.

Trained by Noel Mayfield-Smith, the gelding placed second over 2220m at Grafton three starts back prior to filling the same position over 1900m at Kempsey.

Both of those efforts came at Benchmark 58 level with the seven-year-old set to tackle similar here following a fourth over 2390m at Grafton last month.

The top weight ZAYNUDIN is the pick here, however, racing on his home track and having placed on both starts since being freshened.

The first of those placed efforts saw the 5.00 pick beaten one-and-a-half-lengths into second when contesting a 2020m Class 1 set weights event at Murwillumbah.

A third when contesting a 2220m Class 1 event at Grafton followed, with both of those efforts coming on wet tracks.

The switch to a forecast good 4 surface shouldn’t pose an issue, with the selection having placed at a higher level in metro races on good going in the past.

Daiki Chujo’s representative won over further when training in Ireland in his youth and he looks capable of recording his first southern hemisphere win.

Daisy goes for a double at Corowa

The third meeting of the day takes place at Corowa, with the finale on a six-race program a 1000m Class 3 handicap.

BRENLYN'S DAISY is the selection here, having returned to action with a two-and-a-half-length fourth over 1150m at Leeton in September.

The filly, who jumped as favourite that day was a dual winner last prep including in a Class 1 handicap over this distance at Albury in May.

Apprentice Brittany Button, set to ride here, was on board when the 2.80 pick came home half-a-length clear of her rivals stepped up to 1200m at Wodonga last time.

The daughter of Bolder City contested a Benchmark 58 handicap held on a soft 6 track that day.

Trained by Andrew Dale, the filly drops to 1000m for this contest and, jumping from barrier five, she looks up to completing a double.