The Ramornie Handicap 2016 gets the Black-Type action of the Grafton Cup Carnival underway this afternoon and below are our insider betting tips and the latest odds on the sprint feature.
WJ Healy winner Into The Red is the Races.com.au tip to win the 2016 Ramornie Handicap at Grafton on Wednesday. Photo: Daniel Costello.
Set to run as Grafton Race 7 at 3:55pm (AEST), this year’s $160,000 Listed Crowe Horwath Ramornie Handicap (1200m) field runs at a capacity 16 starters including first emergency Finishing Card coming in for the scratched John O’Shea-trained Barbed (17) who drew a wide alley.
Sitting top of the latest Ramornie Handicap odds at Ladbrokes.com.au paying $4.80 for the win is O’Shea’s remaining hopeful Mogador, the in-form Godolphin-raced three-year-old set to get a gun run from barrier four.
Jockey Brenton Avdulla is booked for the ride on the Lonhro colt who comes off back-to-back stakes placings in Brisbane this winter.
Two back he was runner-up at Doomben in the Listed Queensland Day Stakes (1200m) defeated the barest of margins before his third behind Into The Red at Eagle Farm on June 25 in the Group 3 W.J. Healy Stakes (1200m).
The other best in Ramornie Handicap betting this season are W.J. Healy Stakes winner Into The Red ($5.50) in barrier two for Brisbane’s Kelso Wood, Mount Nebo ($7) coming off a Winter Dash win at Randwick, Tony Gollan’s Jet Spur mare and early market mover Tina Melina ($8), and the 59kg top weight Big Money ($8.50).
So will one of the single-figure fancies get the job done in the provincial sprint feature or is there an upset Ramornie Handicap result pending from the likes of the rails-drawn Steel Zip ($11) or the defending champion Rock Royalty ($12)?
1st
#2 Into The Red ($5.50)
Wood’s Not A Single Doubt five-year-old has won two of his past three starts in Brisbane in Black-Type company and was a narrow Group 3 winner over this distance last time out. He’s at Grafton for the first time, but is hitting his peak and gets the run of the race from barrier two. Luke Dittman retains the ride and knows the horse well. The only test is the 58kg, up two kilos from his winning weight last time out. Three back at Doomben he carted 58.5kg to victory from a similar draw (1) at Doomben in stakes’ company however so has the class and ability to get the job done again here.
2nd
#5 Mount Nebo ($7)
Drawn wider out in barrier 10 so will need to work early to get into a position, but Allan Denham’s Wyong-trained Dubawi six-year-old is still ticking plenty of boxes. His lead-up winter form in Sydney has been impressive with a first-up second behind Danish Twist in the Listed June Stakes (1100m) and a last stat Winter Dash win over the 1200m at Randwick defeating Decision Time by nearly a length. He carted 56kg to victory that run and drops down to 54.5kg here so should be finishing well late.
3rd
#12 Tina Melina ($8)
Early money coming in for Gollan’s mare Tina Melina who is third-up and improving each run. She’s had a freshen-up since her close fourth on May 21 at Doomben in the Listed Bright Shadow (1200m) where she carried 57.5kg. She drops to the 54kg minimum this afternoon and comes off a smart 5.5 length trial win over 1050m from late last month. Looks fit, fresh, is drawn ideally just better than mid-field and has a strong 1200m record (13-5-1-0).
Get in on the Ramornie Handicap 2016 betting action online now at Ladbrokes.com.au – home of Odds Boost!
