Mornington Racing Tips for April 18 – Duchess Zou the one to beat in final race at Mornington

Here are our best bets from the Mornington, which is the Melbourne metropolitan meeting for Saturday with the All Aged Stakes to be run at Randwick on the same day. 

Wonder Boy should be hard to beat in Race 6 at Mornington. The locally trained galloper has been solid in his current preparation without winning and ventured up to Sydney at his most recent start, tackling the 1400m at Rosehill and filling the exacta behind Captain Furai. The winner out of that was able to dictate on his own terms and was dominant at the end with Wonder Boy catching the eye late. At the same stage of his preparation last autumn, Wonder Boy was runner-up in the same race at Rosehill before taking out a strong three-year-old race ahead of Kalkallo and Rue De Royale. He will settle just off the speed and gives the impression that the 1600m will be right up his alley. 

Berlemont shapes as an each-way player in the Mornington Guineas for the three-year-olds. The Michael Kent-trained galloper was a winner on debut then was luckless in the $250,000 Future Stars Series Final at Pakenham when 4th before placing 5th at Flemington on a Heavy track behind Exit at his most recent start. He was posted wide no cover in that race but worked solidly to the line to finish two lengths away, going 10.4 lengths faster than standard benchmark, which is a better figure than what any horse in this race has produced. The son of Brave Smash draws much better this time around and will likely land in a midfield spot. Look for him to be strong late in the piece. 

Basilinna can be an improver at a juicy price in the Mornington Cup. The five-year-old comes out of a memorable Australian Cup (2000m) and was outclassed in that race when fading into 8th position behind Light Infantry Man and Pride Of Jenni. She made an early move at cricket score odds before fading late off the hot tempo. It was at this stage of her autumn campaign last year that she came into her own, improving off a 13th in the Easter Cup at Caulfield to place in the Country Oaks (2100m) and the Port Adelaide Cup (2500m) before claiming the Andrew Ramsden Stakes (2800m). She will love the step to th 2400m and will strip much fitter after her solid hitout in the Australian Cup. The five-year-old gets a nice run from barrier 2 and the $23 on offer is value. 

Race 10 No.10- Duchess Zou

Duchess Zou should be hard to beat in the final race of the afternoon at Mornington. The Ciaron Maher mare has won three of seven and narrowly went down at Caulfield a fortnight ago behind Rue De Royale whens second up. She was posted wide no cover but kept coming to miss out in a head bobber. The four-year-old comes into this third up and was a four-length improver at this stage of her debut prep when going from a Sale Maiden win to a five-length romp in BenchMark 64 company at Geelong before some strong performances in two subsequent starts at Flemington that included a win. The daugther of Zoustar draws much better than her most recent start and has been smashed in the betting since the final fields came out.