Racelab’s Matt Collum has taken a forensic look at the Champions Sprint using their ratings system to assist working out who’s best credentialed to take out this year’s VRC Champions Sprint.
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In The Lab | VRC Champions Sprint | Group 1 WFA 1200m
The track – unique features of Flemington course, advantages PIR/barriers:
- Rail ?, Soft 5-6 Showers
- Lanes 3-7 perform best for all distances from 400m – finish
- Settling midfield with cover is the most profitable position in run
Speed map & tempo:
Expecting a solid tempo over the sprint trip:
Positive/negative jockey/trainer worth highlighting:
- Craig Williams jumps aboard Tentyris for the first time after his explosive win in the Coolmore Stud Stakes
- Ciaron Maher is winning at 21% S/R with a ROI of 19.5% from his last 100 runners
- Mark Zahra is in top form with a ROI of 10.9% at 27% S/R
Past 5 winners with Racelab Performance Rating:
This table outlines the Racelab rating achieved by each of the past five winners when taking out the VRC Champions Sprint. It gives an indication of the level required to win the race in recent years for a few different levels of weight carried, margin spread and race quality.
Racelab benchmark likely to be required to win this year’s edition of the VRC Champions Sprint:
Based off the final field, their recent form, and potential Racelab Prime Rating, the below figures give an indication of what horses will need to achieve based on their weight carried under the WFA scale to win .
| Weight | Rating |
| 58.5kg | 110.5 |
| 56.5kg | 108.7 |
| 53.5kg | 106.5 |
The Racelab Prime Ratings for each horse can be seen in the screenshot below.
The ratings/market:
Based off a range of data, speed map and recent form, Racelab has come up with its own 100% market, which is compared to the current market in the table below. Value exists where the Racelab price is lower than the current price.
The verdict and betting strategy:
Plenty of interest here in the VRC Champions Sprint. Pace appears strong from the outset with Tropicus the likely leader and Flying For Fun sitting handy. There are three horses that have done the JTD (job to do) previously – Giga Kick, Joliestar and Tentyris. Of those horses, I think Joliestar has the best ratings profile here. She comes out of a strong form race (The Everest) and maps to get a soft run in transit. Should be ready to peak third up and the stable are very happy with her. Tentyris ran a new peak rating of 107 last start when winning the Coolmore in impressive fashion. He’s the main danger but has to repeat that run which is a query at WFA. Giga Kick next best, however he generally runs his best races fresh – if he can hold that mark then he’s right in the mix.
Suggested Bet:
Joliestar (WIN)
Legend:
| Name | Definition |
| Prime Rating | Expected rating figure for the upcoming race based on historical performances |
| Job To Do (JTD) | The minimum rating required for each runner to win the race using a combination of metrics: Benchmark, Weight Carried, Mean Weight and Distance. |
