RACE COMMENT

OVERVIEW: While he hasn’t been winning, LE CARDINAL (3) is growing on me week by week and this appears a great chance to prove victorious in what is a pretty hot 0/$15k event over the 1720m. Last weekend, he showed really good gate speed to lead before handing up to red-hot favourite Apollostorm. The pair cleared right out from the rest of the field, and LE CARDINAL (3) chased his rival so gallantly in a super slick last quarter of 26.4 to be beaten 1.4m. He has drawn underneath key rival MOST EXCITING (7) here and if he’s able to glide to the top, he’ll be awfully hard to beat. All his form this campaign is outstanding and he’s a smart horse on the rise who appears destined for free-for-all grade in time. MOST EXCITING (7) actually beat home LE CARDINAL (3) when they last clashed in a strong three-year-old contest back on June 6 and was only grabbed late by Miss Ari here a fortnight ago. They appear the two clear winning chances, but plenty of respect has to rest with ROYAL APPOINTMENT (1), who draws well and rarely runs a bad race, and TALERN LOFTY (2), who came with a sustained run at Shepparton last time and worked past the highly-touted Quatro Moth only to be grabbed in the shadows of the post by Okanui Beach. BACK: LE CARDINAL (3) – 3 units (win)