With five horses in the red in early betting and little reason to tip against them it will be hard to make a buck at Hawkesbury on Thursday but the class two looks a race where punters can get some value.
Darhad from the Hawkes stable only has two rivals to handle in the Angels Florist/Richmond Residential 3YO Maiden Handicap (1000m) but at $1.12 it's a good time to have lunch and watch the race.
It's a similar story with the Waterhouse and Bott-trained Savapinski chasing back to back wins in the Ontrack Engineering Class 2 Handicap (1600m) but again at $1.40 it is hard to recommend to the average punter.
Savapinski's stablemate History Repeats looks under the odds at $1.80 in the Bedrock Quarry Maiden Plate (1800m) going from 1350m to 1800m but at the same time it is hard to recommend any of his rivals to beat the favourite with any degree of confidence.
Happy to have something on the remaining two shorties.
ARGEMONE (Race 2 No 6)
Argemone brings an impeccable formline to the Griffin Air Conditioning Maiden Plate (1100m) with four subsequent winners emanating from the maiden she contested at Beaumont on August 26 when resuming from a 136-day break between races.
Argemone finished fifth but the winner Mission Tycoon has since gone on to win a class one at Kembla whilst the third, fourth and sixth horses have all won maidens in recent weeks.
$1.70 is on the skinny side but I am expecting better odds as the days progresses with support likely to come for the Joe Pride-trained Ready For Love who finished a close second at Gosford on debut and rates as the only other chance in the race but personally I prefer the Smooth Tycoon formline.
GRAND FINALIST (Race 6 No 5)
Grand Finalist is another member of the Waterhouse and Bott team but at $1.90 in early betting represents a touch of value in the T&L Fowler Concreting Benchmark 69 Handicap (1300m).
Grand Finalist has only raced on two occasions finishing a photo-finish second at Beaumont on debut in his only first preparation run before returning a winner at Hawkesbury on September 2 running approximately six-lengths quicker time than the benchmark 64 winner on the same day over the same journey and about eight-lengths quicker than the other maiden winner on the same day.
Grand Finalist looks a future city winner and is set to continue his winning way at Hawkesbury on Thursday.
TREVISO/LATIN BOY (Race 4 No 1 and 2)
No, it's not a mistake, backing two or more horses should be seen as one bet if the odds allow and that's the case in the Bachmayer Orthodontic Clinic Class 2 Handicap (1000m).
The Allan Denham-trained Treviso is a $3.10 chance in early betting with Latin Boy from the Richard Freedman yard at $7.
Treviso is unbeaten in two first-up runs and his impressive trial win at Wyong on September 11 suggests he is primed for a repeat on Thursday but it is hard to knock the winning form of Latin Boy chasing a hat-trick of wins after victories at Newcastle and Hawkesbury.
A $33 investment on Treviso and a $15 stake on Latin Boy for a $100 take-out gives us a better than $2 return if either of the two wins – that's better odds than five of the favourites on Thursday.
