Mike Dillon: Dasoudi ready to improve

Dasoudi (outer) has winning form at Gate Pa which makes him a strong prospect for the feature event tomorrow. Photo / APN

Running last is hardly a recommendation, but Dasoudi deserves another chance at Tauranga tomorrow.

Things went wrong for the promising mare at Ellerslie last start.

When summing up her chances at Tauranga, take on board her easy win at Ellerslie two starts back.

That was a superb effort and it rates highly when weighing this race up.

She beat Miss Caruso and Tanha Strike that day, which is good form for this race.

Bella Renza came back to what we all know she is capable of last start.

If she replicates that she will be difficult to handle in this race.

Mr Investor's third to Red Ruler and Irish Opera two starts back is a great pointer here.

This is a tough race. Matamata sprinter Vincent Mangano is a hard horse to follow. He ran fourth in the Concorde two starts back when things went half right for him, but last start he was caught wide without cover and it turned to dust.

* At Rotorua today, First Date needs a change of luck.

He has been unlucky in his past two runs at Matamata and Tauranga and if he gets a clear run at them late in the race he's going to be difficult to contain.

The real surprise could be Il Divo, whose Hong Kong form did not mirror his local form before being sold and he has been sent back to see if he can recapture his New Zealand winning style.

He was only seventh in his first start back, but is likely to be greatly improved for this.

Sleeping Murder, fresh from a break, is an upset chance.