RACE COMMENT

OVERVIEW: IDEAL FRANKIE (4) stamped herself as a star of her age group with massive 21.8m, 46.9m and 42.6m wins in her first three race starts, which included victory in the rich APG series at Melton in late June. That earned her a place in the Group 1 Protostar slot race at Albion Park, where she ultimately failed and finished towards the back of the field. She’s been freshened and looks clearly the horse to beat. SOHO SPARKLE (2) galloped out of play as favourite in a heat of the Gold Tiara on debut in March and heads here on the back of a good second placing at the Menangle trials recently, while SHES CAPTIVATING (3) won a trial at Ballarat over HEAVENLY GEM (6) on August 19 but there was no vision of that hit-out so it’s hard to weigh up the performances. CARTIMANDUA (5) wasn’t overly fancied by punters on debut at Shepparton, but ran well for third and can be included for the back end of trifectas and First 4s.