LONGFORD trainer Ian Hay will be hoping his rising star Bideford can keep his unbeaten record this preparation intact when the gelding steps out in the Matthews Family Class Four handicap over 1200 metres at The TOTE Racing Centre in Launceston tonight.
Bideford is unbeaten from two outings this time in and those wins followed a debut third and a striking win at his only other two starts last season.
He resumed with a win over 1200m in Launceston on October 8 at the first night meeting of the season but he followed with an arrogant victory over 1400 metres at the same venue two weeks later.
The New Zealand-bred gelding drops back to 1200 metres tonight but he seems to be versatile enough for it not to be a factor.
Bideford has plenty of early speed and jockey David Pires should able to let the gelding use that to race forward from the outside barrier (eight).
If there is a danger it could come from the Adam Trinder-trained Seven Falls that has notched a win and a second from his only two starts in Tasmania.
Trinder has opted to book claiming apprentice Georgie Catania who will give the horse 1.5 kilograms relief to carry 57 kg while Bideford must lug all of his allotted 59 kg.
The interesting runner is Huss Style that resumed from a lengthy spell with a bold win over The Producer and Ollie’s Gold in a benchmark 72 handicap over 1200 metres two weeks ago.
This is a decent rise in class for Huss Style but she was so impressive first-up that she must be rated an each-way prospect.
However Brakey will need to find a suitable replacement rider as Chantal Willis who rode the mare last time and was booked for the ride tonight is sidelined courtesy of a mounting yard incident in Hobart yesterday (read full story).
Peter Staples’ tips for the eight-race card tonight