NEWMARKET HANDICAP 2020 PREVIEW
FLEMINGTON RACE 6 – 15:25 AEDT
OPEN
1200m
$1,250,000
SOFT 6 (predicted)
Rail out 8m ENTIRE
| # | Form | Horse | Trainer | Jockey (barrier) | Weight (kg) | Current Price |
| 1 | 1x2x1 | GYTRASH | G RICHARDS | B MELHAM (2) | 57.0 | $7.50 |
| 2 | 336x2 | ZOUTORI | MATHEW ELLERTON & SIMON ZAHRA | D LANE (8) | 55.0 | $10 |
| 3 | 509x6 | DESPATCH | T & C MCEVOY | JAMIE KAH (6) | 54.5 | $51 |
| 4 | 1110x | THE INEVITABLE | S BRUNTON | B PREBBLE (13) | 54.5 | $9 |
| 5 | 162x6 | BIVOUAC | JAMES CUMMINGS | G BOSS (7) | 54.0 | $5 |
| 6 | 1331x | EXCEEDANCE | M HAWKES | D DUNN (11) | 54.0 | $5 |
| 7 | x1117 | HALVORSEN | R GRIFFITHS | A MALLYON (9) | 53.0 | $19 |
| 8 | 23320 | MYSTYKO | T ROGERS | DEAN HOLLAND (1) | 53.0 | $91 |
| 9 | 011x7 | TOFANE | M MORONEY | M J DEE (10) | 53.0 | $29 |
| 10 | 229x0 | TROPE | M HAWKES | MICHAEL POY (5) | 53.0 | $41 |
| 11 | 212x3 | LOVING GABY | C MAHER & D EUSTACE | C WILLIAMS (4) | 52.5 | $5.50 |
| 12 | 14x32 | BANQUO | D O'BRIEN | D YENDALL (3) | 51.0 | $26 |
| 13 | 133x4 | LIBERTINI | A CUMMINGS | J M NEIL (12) | 51.0 | $9 |
OVERVIEW
Looks to be a cracking edition of the Newmarket Handicap with gun 3-year-olds Bivouac, Exceedance and Loving Gaby all lining up against a quality field. Last start winner Gytrash gets another chance here after defeating hot pot Nature Strip in the Lightning Stakes.
SPEED MAP
One of the roughies of the field Despatch will look to inject a fast tempo here with his natural front-running style in a race otherwise lacking in early speed. Bivouac looks to get the run of the race behind the leader and Libertini shouldn’t be far away either. Trope and Exceedance should be the backmarkers here. As always, down the straight is unpredictable and the field could split, leaving the speed map to change very quickly.
KEY RUNNERS
- GYTRASH ($7.50)
Resumed with a barnstorming display at Flemington in the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes, scoring a 1 length victory over a solid field which included speedster Nature Strip. He has improved markedly since last year, progressing from BM82 all the way up to Group 1 victory. Can go on with it here.
- BIVOUAC ($5.00)
Was probably close to the best backed runner of the day last start at Caulfield on Oakleigh Plate day, however, was basically given no chance in that race behind Pippie, who had the advantage of a great frontrunning ride and also slight bias toward the rail. Bivouac was sound there and still finished within 2.5L of Pippie. Should take improvement from that run and with even luck should be tough to beat.
- EXCEEDANCE ($5.00)
Burst onto the scene last prep on a bottomless track at Rosehill, where he defeated the highly touted favourite Bivouac by 2 lengths. Since then, the head-to-head with Bivouac sits at 2-2 and they will look to settle this today. His last run was a dominant win in the Group 1 Coolmore and he proved there’s no doubting his star power.
BLUEY’S PICK
- BIVOUAC ($5.00)
This race is wide open but I’m siding with Bivouac, who has been luckless in many of his past runs. I’m tipping he’ll be well supported again here and can make amends for last start when the track bias was stacked heavily against him.
