Mornington Racing Tips for September 26 – Queen Christine to push Concord Connie all the way

Here are our best bets from the meeting, which complements the action from Rosehill, which plays host to the Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes.

Savitri should be hard to beat in the opener at Mornington. The Mitchell Freedman-trained mare resumed from a spell at Sandown on September 9 and was well backed to start as a $2.35 favourite. She was a tad keen early before being chopped out of it at the 50m mark when finishing fourth, beaten one length. The daughter of So You Think went four lengths faster than standard benchmark, which is the second-best last-start figure of any runner in this race and indicates she has returned in promising fashion. Second-up last campaign she improved more than three lengths on benchmark figures when fifth at Sandown before winning two in succession, including a Saturday race at Caulfield. The slight step up to 1500m is in her favour and she draws ideally in barrier five.

Plenty of interest surrounds the return of Concorde, but one that looks a sneaky chance at around $7.50 is Queen Christine. The Symon Wilde-trained mare has won three of her past four, racking up a six-length win at Warrnambool before taking out successive races at Sandown. She comes off a last-start fourth over 1300m at the Hillside circuit in a strong race and the drop back to 1200m should suit. The four-year-old loves to lead and won't have to work hard in the early stages from barrier one. She can kick up and lead them with not too much pressure on her outside. She comes in full of fitness and is the one they will have to run down in the straight. Expect her to be in it for a long way.

Going with Buccleuch to make it three wins on the trot when he steps out in the final race of the day. The Patrick Payne-trained four-year-old ran quick time when scoring at Sandown when resuming over 1400m before backing up that performance with another strong victory at his most recent start. He carries the same weight this time around and rises slightly in grade, while his performances have been backed up on the clock, going more than 12 lengths faster than standard benchmark in both runs this preparation. There is a slight question as to whether he can reproduce those figures on a firmer surface, although one of his better performances came on good ground at Flemington last year. I suspect the son of Peltzer is destined to take part in harder races than this and, with Billy Egan in the saddle from barrier five, he should go very close. Egan strikes at 24% for the stable, providing a 17% profit on investment.