We had a great result last week with SANTA ANA LANE winning the TJ Smith Stakes in emphatic style so we’ll be hoping for more of the same on Day 2 of The Championships.
We first steered readers into SANTA ANA LANE on March 7 when he was at a top price of $17 in futures markets: “Can’t figure out why this horse is still underrated. Over the last 12 months he’s clearly established himself as the country’s premier sprinter and yet there’s still four horses ahead of him in early TJ Smith betting, including Redzel who’s won two Group I races to Santa Ana Lane’s four. On a dry track in last year’s Group 1 Darley Classic, Santa Ana Lane beat Redzel – and all the others – fair and square at weight-for-age. If a dry track is dished up for the TJ Smith Stakes then this is the only horse I want to be on.”
As it turned out, the track remained in the soft range for the TJ Smith Stakes but the son of LOPE DE VEGA still proved a class above, winning by 3.5 lengths at healthy odds of $7.50.
This Saturday I’m going for one at double-figure odds in the Group 1 Coolmore Legacy – formerly the Queen Of The Turf Stakes.
Saturday tip:
INVINCIBLE GEM (Randwick R9 N5): Always had a bit of time for this mare. Set backs have blemished her overall record a bit but she looked back to somewhere near her best last start when defeating Daysee Doom in the Group 2 Emancipation Stakes (1500m). That race is often a reliable form reference for the Coolmore Legacy. Gets back to Randwick where she has finished in the top three five times from eight starts and has drawn favourably in barrier three. If you go back to her last run at a mile she finished 1.5 lengths behind Shillelagh in the Group 1 Empire Rose (1600m) at Flemington during the spring. That form is certainly good enough to win this all-females event and she’s currently $20.
Tom Walter is the son of and deputy to Proven Thoroughbreds proprietor Jamie Walter. He manages the website, social media, IT and admin, following six years as a journalist for online racing publication Racenet.