Ballarat Racing Tips for October 9 – Strong Tempo set for Race 8 at Ballarat

Here are our best bets from the meeting, which comes before the Cranbourne meeting later in the day and on the eve of a huge programme from Caulfield on Saturday for Caulfield Guineas day.

Ruby Guild looks a major player in Race 3 at Ballarat. The Robbie Griffiths-trained filly is yet to place in four starts but has been competitive in stronger city races at her past three, including a desperately unlucky effort over 1000m at Sandown when she never really saw daylight in the straight despite appearing to have plenty to offer, eventually finishing a one-length fourth. She has since finished fifth on the Caulfield Heath and has produced standard benchmark figures or better at her past two starts, something none of her exposed rivals here have come close to matching. She has endured a wretched run with barrier draws and again comes up with a wide gate, but should get back and Ballarat gives her plenty of time to work through her gears in the straight. Unless one of the debutants is above average, this looks her chance to break through.

This might be the race for veteran Bifrost to break a lengthy drought, with the eight-year-old having gone more than 18 months without a win. He struck a series of Soft and Heavy tracks through winter before returning from an eight-week break on a Good surface at Warrnambool, where he settled midfield and chased strongly into second behind Ziggy Bomber, producing the fastest final 400m and 200m of the race but unable to reel in the winner after it had pinched a break. He should strip fitter for that first-up run and, while he has to carry 62.5kg, he has a class edge on much of this field and draws nicely in barrier 6. Back on top of the ground and with improvement to come, he gets his chance.

Strong Tempo can make it two wins from as many starts when he steps out in Race 8 at Ballarat. The Hayes-trained gelding made his debut at Swan Hill recently and settled last in the field of seven in a race where the tempo wasn't quite what his name suggests, but he was still good enough to overcome the race shape and storm home to score. He produced a slick 32.44 seconds for his final 600m, indicating there is a fair degree of talent in the son of Fierce Impact. He rises sharply from maiden grade to Benchmark 62 company and again draws wide, so we can expect him to settle back, but his debut performance suggests he is above average and the step up to 1400m looks ideal. Harry Coffey sticks aboard and he can remain unbeaten.

Hoping En Flique can sneak into the field in Race 9, with the consistent mare currently the second emergency. She resumed with a seventh in Benchmark 70 company on the Caulfield Heath last month, settling midfield and sticking on well in a slowly run affair while still going a length faster than standard benchmark, the best last-start figure of any runner in this race. The Ben Brisbourne-trained five-year-old rarely runs a bad race, having finished outside the top five just once in eight starts last preparation while winning twice. She should appreciate the rise to 1600m, drops in grade and has improvement to come with the run under her belt. She will need some luck from the wide barrier if she gains a start, but looks capable of scoring at a value price.