The Group 1 William Reid Stakes is the feature event on Friday night at Moonee Valley and while it’s not the best Group 1 of the year, it’s a competitive betting event.
Read our preview below or watch the race preview for the William Reid + Mornington + the Golden Slipper here.
Moonee Valley Race 7 – 1200m – Group 1 William Reid Stakes
1. Rock Magic: Very good lead in runs with a 4th in the Newmarket beaten 0.8L coming off a 5th in the Lightning. Right in this and maps a dream.
2. Hellbent: Flew home in the Oakleigh Plate after being held up for runs. Step up in class here normally but this doesn’t look much harder. Barrier key negative meaning horse will have to snag back and run wide final 400m.
3. Supido: Two strong lead in runs in the Lightning and Newmarket. Rock Magic turned the tables at 1200m last start but only just and maps worse today.
4. Thronum: Natural leader of the race. Disappointed in the Newmarket when just not suited by tempo. First up win at course and distance controlled the speed to suit stacked them up and spat them out. Similar tactics expected here.
5. Bons Away: Strong first up run in the Oakleigh Plate when beaten 0.6L. Worse at weights today giving Hellbent 1kg but ready to fire. First time at track an issue. Maps well.
6. Secret Agenda: Looked short of a run first up and still got the job done with a perfect ride at top weight in listed company. Big jump in class and this horse in a Group 1 winner from last prep. Any rain would help.
7. Fuhryk: Horrible run first up from out the back in the Oakleigh Plate. G1 2nd last prep to Viddora at Ascot. Best clearly good enough but does take a few runs to get going.
8. Pariah: Two strong lead in trials. Group 3 winner last prep first up. 2nd in the Blue Diamond as a 2YO. 2nd in the Run to the Roses. Always had potential and better fresh.
9. She Will Reign: Won this race last year in strong fashion. It wasn’t an overly strong edition in the end and this doesn’t appear to be either. Going well enough to measure up.
10. Catchy: Disappointing run in the Newmarket. Hasn’t run time required to measure up here all prep and hard to see the switch.
Very High Chance: Secret Agenda, Rock Magic
High Chance: She Will Reign, Thronum
Medium Chance: Hellbent, Pariah, Supido
Low Chance: Bons Away, Fuhryk, Catchy
Very Low Chance: None
Expected Speed: With Thronum expected to lead them around, this race could run anywhere between Average to 5 lengths above benchmark. I’d be suggesting the lower end of this.
Comments: We can’t predict how the track will play on the night, but if it plays as fair as past years, we can expect every horse to have their chance in this race. With Thronum on speed leading them around, I can’t see an overly strong tempo. Secret Agenda broke 22 for the final 400m last start and has a load more of fitness to come. If they go anywhere around benchmark to the 600m, Secret Agenda will be very hard to get past. The main danger that maps for the 1/1 spot behind Secret Agenda is Rock Magic and based on the past two runs, the horse is a big chance.
