Hamilton Racing Tips for November 9 – Attain has a class edge in Race 6

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

Rentier can go close in Race 2. The Lindsey Smith-trained galloper has had just three career starts, placing in his first two before finishing fourth at Swan Hill over 1200m most recently. He settled handy on that occasion and stuck on well, beaten just under a length, despite encountering some restricted room late in the piece. Two starts earlier, he finished third behind Light Watch, with runner-up Oceans Blue subsequently breaking through for a convincing maiden victory at Mornington. Rentier gets the winkers on for the first time and the slight rise in trip looks suitable. With clear running, he should be capable of improving on those performances and breaking through. Declan Doyle rides.

The drop back to restricted 56 company should see Sotomayor return to his best in Race 5. The five-year-old finished runner-up in this grade at Hamilton two starts ago, producing the fastest final 200m of the race when missing out by less than half a length behind Frosty Knight, with a decent gap to the remainder of the field. That was his first outing for the Patrick Ryan stable before stepping up to Benchmark 62 company at Warrnambool, where he drew wide, settled midfield and finished seventh, beaten just over two lengths in a slowly run race that developed into a sprint home. Sotomayor should be at peak fitness after those two runs and finally draws a favourable barrier after a succession of wide gates. He may be able to settle closer to the speed this time and should be hard to beat.

Attain has a class edge on his rivals and looks the clear top pick in Race 6. The six-year-old gelding was well beaten at Morphettville most recently, but there were plenty of excuses. He was hampered at the start, tightened between runners and overraced through the middle stages before closing off strongly over the final 400m. The slow tempo worked against him, with the winner establishing a break, yet Attain still recorded the fastest final 400m of the race. His last-start performance was three lengths slower than standard benchmark figures, approximately three lengths superior to the next-best last-start rating of any runner in this field. He hasn't won for some time, but this is the easiest assignment he has faced in quite a while. Provided he can find a suitable position from his barrier, he should prove too good.