Brad Waters was the Racenet team's star player this week, picking one at double figure odds at Flemington to kick off a good day.
The Peter Healey-trained Riyadh was unwanted in betting despite winning his past two starts and dropping in grade, drifting from $7.50 on Thursday to a starting price of $13.
The price didn't deter Waters and the seven-year-old proved too strong again, getting up in the last stride to nail the Danny O'Brien-trained Gervais and claim his hat-trick.
The next winner was highlighted in Weekend Winners and was a satisfying one for many punters around Australia.
Suncraze ($2.60 fav) finally put his best foot forward and charged clear for an emphatic victory in the TAB Highway Handicap (1400m) after a string of six second-placings. It appears that Corey Brown may have found the key to the horse after insisting on blinkers after riding the gelding last start.
Weekend Winners' 'Bad Haircut Tip' Enzo The Barber gave something for Seinfeld fans to cheer about at Morphettville on Saturday. The Lloyd Kennewell-trained gelding cut through the field and brushed past rivals to score at $12.
Ben Dorries also chimed in with a winner from the Sunshine State with Care To Think ($2.50 fav) proving too classy in the Winning Edge Presentations QTIS Three-Years-Old Handicap (1350m) at Doomben.
Clinton Payne also wasn't far off the mark with his each-way selection Francesco finishing third in the final even of the day at Randwick, paying $4 the place.
STICK WITH KILIMANJARO
The George Watson Handicap (2000m) was run at a farcical pace at Flemington on Saturday and gave us no real guide to the ability of Kilimanjaro, nor any other runner for that matter. The Lloyd Williams-trained five-year-old was touted as a possible Melbourne Cup contender after an excellent first-up performance when resuming off a two-year break but finished sixth second-up on Saturday where the crawling tempo worked against him.
He is following a similar path to that of stablemate, and last year's Melbourne Cup winner, Almandin. If you go back through Almandin's form you will see that he too was well beaten at his second Australian start before winning the Melbourne Cup just four runs later. While Kilimanjaro only has a rating of 90 Williams has won Australia's most prestigious race on a record five occasions and I am confident he will have Kilimanjaro peaking at the right time. Is he good enough? Time will tell but one thing is for sure, I wouldn't be dropping off based on Saturday's performance.
For those willing to speculate, he is rated a $67 chance with Ladbrokes all-in Melbourne Cup market.
HORSES TO FOLLOW
A pair of Kris Lees-trained gallopers caught my eye at Randwick on Saturday.
Sound Proposition – This former New Zealander now trained by Kris Lees has now won his last two starts after a determined victory at Randwick on Saturday. The Group I-winning gelding was giving 5kg to the second-placed horse Loyalty Man and still proved too strong, with a big gap back to third. He is up to better grade than what he met on Saturday and should be followed closely.
Admiral Jello – It was an excellent resuming run by Admiral Jello in the #THERACES Handicap (1500m). The four-year-old charged home from last to narrowly miss third place. A winner last preparation over 1900m and 2400m, he is clearly going in the right direction.
FORGIVE FILE
Aquatic – This Chris Waller-trained three-year-old is dying to win a race. He's the winner of just one from 16 starts and missed a place as the $4.60 second-favourite on Saturday but I'm convinced he is ready to win again very soon. Saturday's run was excellent, closing behind some smart ones and once he steps up in trip he's going to be hard to hold out.
