Some big bets were landed across the board at Flemington on Saturday.
Punters stepped in to take the odds-on about Anchor Bid then played up again on Portman later in the day, both getting the cash.
TAB.com.au has supplied Racenet with a review of exchanges with punters at Flemington on Saturday.
Race 1, BM78: Riyadh defied a huge betting drift to land the money in the last stride. Going from $7.50 on Thursday to $9 on Saturday morning, punters chose to ignore the Peter Healey-trained runner who jumped as a $13 shot. Getting out into clear space at the 300 metres, Riyadh under jockey Brian Higgins gradually picked up the leaders to nail Electric Fusion ($21) and Gervais ($7) who dead-heated for second. The heavily tried Dollar For Dollar , backed from $3.80 into $3.30, led and was just behind them in fourth. BETS: Gervais $8,000 @ $2 place.
Race 2, BM84: Dulverton made it two-from-two for horses that defied a betting drift to win at Flemington. Coming from last, Dulverton produced a huge finish to defy the $4.40-$6 drift. Diapason ($3.80) had good money come for it throughout the day and ran second in front of the leader Hell Or Highwater ($6.50) which bottomed out at $4.40 with just 10 mins of betting remaining. Sea The Sparkle was the disappointment for punters, who sent her out a $2.50 favourite. BETS: Dulverton $4,000 @ $5.50.
Race 3, 2YO: Anchor Bid did what many expected and won the extended 1800m contest for the two-year-olds. Backed from $1.55 in the morning into as low as $1.30, Anchor Bid jumped $1.45 and was responsible for 75 percent of the total investment. Racing behind the leader, jockey Craig Williams had some trouble finding clear space but once he did the horse burst through the gap to score a comfortable win. Justice Faith ($14) and Think Diamonds ($12) filled the minors. BETS: Anchor Bid $20,000 @ $1.45, $7,273 @ $1.55, $5,000 @ $1.33.
Race 4, BM84: Portman delivered a huge blow to TAB in winning. The Danny O'Brien-trained runner was absolutely hammered in betting and went out one of the best backed runners in Australia on Saturday. With $2.50 available in the morning, TAB customers constantly kept coming back to back Portman and eventually smashed it into $2.05. Sitting one-one for most of the race, jockey Craig Williams pushed the 'go' button midway down the straight and the horse did the rest. Orient Line ($7.50) ran on well for second while Rebellious Lord ($6.50) was third. The winner dominated the market with a 77 percent hold. BETS: Portman $50,000 @ $2.35, $6,000 @ $2.05, $5,000 @ $2.05.
Race 5, 3YO: Lovani led throughout to win. With Luke Currie dictating terms, Lovani did get the blows in betting but fought on strongly when challenged to beat Jaminzah and Balcazar ($5). TAB had the Robert Smerdon-trained winner at $4.60 in the morning but it jumped at $8.50. The most popular runner was Ruby Sea ($4) who held approximately 33 percent of all bets in the race. After racing near the tail for most of the race, she came the widest of all runners in the straight but couldn't make sufficient ground. BETS: Lovani $4,000 @ $7.
Race 6 BM90: The two least popular runners fought out the finish in the first leg of the Quaddie. Play Master ($41-$34) and Kirani ($31) held approximately two percent of the total investment. Most punters had their money riding with Divine Mr Artie ($4.60-$3.30) who ran on strongly for third. The Brendan McCarthy-trained runner was responsible for nearly half of all bets on the race. Of the others, Ozi Choice was popular at the $8 today after $14 was given on Wednesday. BETS: Divine Mr Artie $2,000 @ $3.40, $2,000 @ $3.20, $2,000 @ $2.10 multiple times.
Race 7, Open: Pacodali ($5-$4.60) had backing to suggest that it would run a big race. Most of the money, however, was with race favourite Kilimanjaro who was crunched late from $3 into $2.40. Pacodali fought on strongly at the finish to beat Master Zephyr ($15) who flashed home at the end. Killarney Kid ($5-$9) grabbed third in front of Extra Zero ($12) with the pair easily the best supported to beat the fav. Kilimanjaro came wide on the turn but didn't run on at the finish. BETS: Kilimanjaro $7,000 @ $2.30.
Race 8, 3YO Fillies: Swampland benefitted from having a good run off the speed to score. Punters came for the Henry Dwyer-trained runner late and backed it from $11 all the way into $7.50. Jockey Craig Symons timed his run to perfection to overhaul race favourite Moonlites Choice ($3.90) with Princess Of Queens ($8) running third. Princess Of Queens attracted a heap of each-way bets and as a result was one of the most popular horses in the race along with Whyouask ($9). The biggest mover was Invictum Domina ($8-$5.50) who wound up fourth after being hassled out in front by roughie Miss Magda throughout. BETS: Invictum Domina $5,000 @ $5.50.
Race 9, Open 3YO: Hay Bale upset the plunge in the lucky last. Although Hay Bale ($10-$8) did firm up the money for Tahi was extremely strong. Opening at $8.50 in the morning, the Danny O'Brien-trained runner was crunched from $6 into $3.80 in the final hour of betting. Hay Bale and Tahi paired off over the final 100 metres but it was the former that proved too strong. I'm Telling Ya ($23) was third. Invincible Al ($5) went around as the most popular runner in terms of money held while Tahi was easily next best. BETS: Hay Bale $6,000 @ $8; Tahi $5,500 @ $4, $3,500 @ $4.
