| Race | Horse | Betting Suggestion | Summary |
| R1 | 8. Coolazclara | E/W | Talented filly, solid on debut, strong jump-outs, maps forward. |
| R3 | 1. Bakersbend & 10. Say It How It Is | Two-Bet Play | Bakersbend fitter and maps to lead; Say It How It Is big odds improver. |
| R8 | 3. Ballon D’or | E/W | Luckless last start, third-up, dry track, right race. Danger: Starmae. |
Turf Talk
- Swan Hill has a long, 475m home straight. Generally pretty good starting points; the 1600m is the trickiest of them.
- Firm deck at Swan Hill generally means it’s no disadvantage to be on speed.
Race 1 – No.8 Coolazclara
This filly has always shown good talent and I thought she was solid on debut in the Donald Classic last campaign. She was then outclassed/maybe came to the end of her prep when heading to town. Like the way she has jumped-out ahead of this second campaign – she should put herself up near the speed and be in this a long way.
Betting suggestion: (8) Coolazclara E/W @ $6.
Race 3 – No.1 Bakersbend & No.10 Say It How It Is
Bakersbend trialled like a horse that would only improve off his first-up run, which is an ominous sign for his rivals. He ran second at Donald fresh, beaten by Centu Cavaddi, who ran well at Sandown yesterday. Off the pole draw, Bakersbend should hold the front in a race lacking tempo and from there prove hard to catch.
At a big price, also having something on Say It How It Is. She was just fair in her first campaign but jump-outs at Donald and Ararat leading into this suggest she has made good improvement. Drawn to settle somewhere near the speed at a suitable distance first up. $26 looks a big price.
Betting suggestion: Backing Bakersbend and Say It How It Is
Race 8 – No.3 Ballon D’or
Ballon D’or has had two runs for the Cassar stable and there has been merit to each run, despite finishing down the track. First up at Bendigo he struck a heavy track and got back in a moderately run race before working home in the 3rd best last 600m split of the entire meeting. Last start, he was bolting for a run in behind the speed for much of the race but never got a crack at them. Third-up now, onto a dry deck, down in grade, he’s ready to fire.
Think the horse to beat comes through the same race as Ballon D’Or: (16) Starmae. She, too, didn’t have the best passage there at Wodonga and also drops into a very winnable race third up.
Betting suggestion: Backing Ballon D’or E/W at $23
