Mornington Racing Tips for November 1 – Wonder Boy the one to beat in the Peninsula Cup

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

Bel Lupa can go close in Race 5 at Mornington. The four-year-old resumed at Seymour recently and finished below her best but can improve here. The Greg Eurell-trained mare was slowly away that day, forcing her to settle well back in a race run at a crawling tempo. She recorded the fastest sectionals from the 800m to the 200m, but the lack of early speed counted against her as she finished sixth. The daughter of Wolf Cry is likely to settle back again here, but the tempo looks more genuine, with Ilovediamonds and Miss Cotoletta among a few that like to roll forward. Expect her to be finishing strongly.

Wonder Boy looks the one to beat in the Peninsula Cup (1600m). The locally trained galloper has been outclassed against some of the better horses in the country in his two runs this campaign, but this looks well within his grasp. The Jerome Hunter-trained gelding finished last in the recent Weekend Hussler Stakes (1400m), recording a figure two lengths faster than standard benchmark, which is the best last-start figure of any runner in this race. He steps up to the 1600m, a distance at which he has won twice from four attempts, including his only previous start over the track and trip. Third-up last preparation, the son of Cosmic Force improved more than seven lengths on benchmark figures and looks well placed to produce a similar spike here. He should be able to settle behind the likes of Lim's Saltoro and Reset The Jazz before launching his challenge late.

Sixty Grand can go on with the job in Race 8 at Mornington. The promising Price/Kent Jnr-trained galloper has won two of his six career starts and was a narrow runner-up over the 2030m at Mornington two starts ago before breaking through in a 0–62 race at Morphettville last time out. That third-up victory produced a figure two lengths faster than standard benchmark, the best last-start figure of any runner in this race. The son of Time Test rises slightly in grade but looks to have further improvement to come and should be at peak fitness after three runs this preparation. Expect him to be hard to hold out.