Ballarat Racing Tips for August 25 – Say Yes to Mikki in Race 3

Here are our best bets from the meeting, which also feature in our daily selections.

Going with Don’t Say No Mikki in Race 3. The six-year-old is yet to win in eight starts but has placed on three occasions and produced a career best at her most recent start when switching to the Synthetic for the first time and finishing runner-up behind Justibella. She settled settled second half and made a long and sustained run with the fastest last 600m to miss by less than half a length. That came over the 1400m and the slight step up in trip should suit, while she will strip fitter at her third run back. Brad Rawiler rides and the pair draw perfectly in barrier 5. 

Nice race with some handy types lining up in a BenchMark 78. Surreal I Am can serve it up to some of the bigger names and has found his mojo on the Synthetic with two wins and a runner-up since switching to the surface three starts back. The John McArdle gelding has led in all of those and has been producing some very competitive figures. This is his hardest test to date as he rises from BM70 level but the son of I Am Invincible draws ideally in barrier 1, while he drops 2.5kg in weight. He comes in with just over a month between runs and that recipe worked well prior to his win three starts ago when spiking eight lengths on benchmark figures. Unless they pour the pressure on very early, he should be hard to get past at the business end of the race. 

This is a weak race and Flying Mean can capitalise. The six-year-old has just one win to his credit from 15 career starts but has placed in nine, including two of four this time in. Two of those have been at his current preparation, including one runner-up in this company three starts back when desperately unlucky at Pakenham on the Synthetic. He was better than it looked last time when 3rd in a BenchMark 62 over the 1000m at Sale in a race where the winner, Mainmankash, got away with murder up front on a jog. That horse has since come out and placed 3rd behind Behaviour in a Saturday BenchMark 74 race. Flying Mean draws perfectly in barrier 4 and should be better suited at the 1200m. John Allen rides.