The spotlight shines on Gosford this Saturday with over $1.8 million in prize money on offer at the Central Coast’s richest race day.
The Coast (1600m) boasts a total prize pool of $500,000 for 3 & 4-year-old horses.
The race is run under handicap conditions and has attracted a star-studded lineup in 2023.
There has already been a stack of money invested in the race with both Annabel Neasham and John Sargent runners slammed in from their opening quotes.
Should you follow the market? Mick Gannon from theGreatTipOff.com steps you through the key information for the day’s feature event.
Track Conditions
The track is currently rated a Soft 5 but with brilliant weather forecasted from here, horses are likely to race on a Good 4 track.
The rail lands in the true position for the entire circuit and should play fair, allowing races to be dictated by tempo.
Gosford racecourse has a unique triangular design with a long back straight run from the 1200m before a tight ‘horseshoe’ turn from the 600m and a short home straight of only 250m.
As always with Gosford, horses drawing inside barriers and landing on speed, genuinely hold the keys to the race.
Gosford Race 8 – The Coast (1600m)
The Map
There doesn’t appear to be much pace on paper in this event which is unusal for Gosford races.
Military Expert (1) will make the most of the gate to boot up and hold the front.
Zoe’s Promise (9) only knows one way and that is to race forward, look for her to come across and sit outside ‘The Expert’.
Kayobi (4) and Thalassophile (6) will also use their barriers to sit handy just in behind the leaders.
The interesting runner is Welwal (3) who finally draws soft for the first time this campaign. This means he can sit a lot handier in the run three pairs back.
Pretty Amazing (5) will also attempt to sit handier in the run compared to her last few starts.
It becomes tricky beyond midfield with plenty of horses drawn wide fighting for a more forward position.
Razeta (9)and I’ve Bean Tryin (11) will likely race rearward thanks to their poor barriers.
The Favourite
The money piling into this race is landing on two specific runners that have been backed into favouritism.
The good map for the Neasham-trained Military Expert has not been missed by punters.
He was caught wide first-up and while the end result was disappointing, it has toughed him up.
He goes well second-up and no doubt Neasham will have set him for this race some time ago.
Palmetto enters this contest third-up after a barnstorming finish last start at Hawkesbury, when the track played in his favour.
Can he handle the bend at Gosford coming off speed at his first attempt? That is the query.
Free Horse Racing Tips
Welwal gets to the mile for the first time since arriving on our shores and is ready to peak.
He’s a Group 3 winner in France over the mile, a distance where he produced his career best runs.
Drawing barrier 3 for the Gosford mile is perfect.
He will sit three pairs back the rail for an easy time in transit and when they fan on the turn for home, I expect him to be the one launching from the pack.
Kayobi is screaming out for a dry track.
He produced a career peak at Gosford three back and returns to the scene stepping up to the 1600m.
He’s a real talent and it wouldn’t surprise to see him in the finish with the soft map.
Palmetto returns to listed grade in career-best form and only needs the breaks at the right time to be in the finish.
Military Expert ran 3rd behind Tuvalu in the Group 1 Toorak over 1600m last preparation.
Prior to that, he was a dominant winner at The Valley over the mile, producing a career peak figure that would win this.
A return to his best is good enough to be winning.
- Welwal
- Kayobi
- Palmetto
- Military Expert
Head to The Great Tip Off’s horse racing tip market to access the selections of proven winning form analysts.