KEY POINTS:
A $500,000 Pick6 and Sir Slick will never have so much pressure put on him.
He'll be everyone's anchor at Awapuni this afternoon despite his 11th placing at Tauranga last week and if he crashes and burns again, so will most Pick6 punters.
The first leg, Race 5, is perhaps the biggest Pick6 hurdle. There is no alternative but to go wide here.
Lunus (No 9) is perhaps going to be the favourite, but the race is wide open. Lunus is jumping in class, but the drop from 57.5kg when he finished a close second to Taking The Mickey at Ellerslie to 54 this time is going to offset that. Prized Punch (3) is generally regarded as a stayer, but check his record and three of his four career wins have been at this 1600m distance. He also goes well when fresh. Taking The Mickey (2), Castlereagh (5) and Jowka (7) are must-haves. In a nightmare line-up, Subtle (4) and Wai (11) are value runners. Wai was luckless last week.
LEG 2
The top of the field reveals the chances in the $100,000 Manawatu Classic. Nom Du Jeu (1) gets his chance on a suitable firm track after proving hopeless in the wet in the Derby. The No 1 draw is not perfect for him, but expect to see him ridden more forward than usual. Thumbs Up (3) is better than his St Leger fifth says and look for a better run against his own age group. Pierre Joseph (2) is the other strong chance and punters need to make the decision whether to include the most improved horse in New Zealand, Mynewbestfriend (4). He got over the top of Rios last week and landed some bets, but has a horror wide draw to overcome.
LEG 3
Heaps of chances in the $200,000 Sires Produce, but this column is going to suggest restricting it to just two, Fully Fledged (1) and Il Quello Veloce (14). If you include all the chances here you won't be able to go as wide as you need to in other legs and stay in budget. If you need to, anchor Fully fledged, he's the real deal and should win. He's going to love 1400M.
LEG 4
Imananabaa (3) makes a lot of appeal. As good as she is at the top level at 1200m, she's probably better at 1400m in this type of class. The inside draw is a big help. Bulginbaah (1) doesn't have that luxury, but then he's used to overcoming difficulties and often doing the seemingly impossible. His 59kg from an outside gate looks prohibitive, but it's a risk leaving him out. Maximum Star's (8) third in the Telegraph is always going to find him friends for a race like this.
LEG 5
Sir Slick (1). You have to take the chance last week was just one of those days in horse racing. If he's beaten so are we all. Of the others you can only make a case for Dezigna (2).
LEG 6
Deity (No5) is the horse we all want to see win. His part owner Bob Tait was buried in Whangarei on Wednesday (see D13) and this would be a very emotional win for co-owner, wife Glenise. And she can win. She's been taking ground off good fields late in her races up to 1600m and the step to 2100m will be in her favour. Smoking Chimneys (6) has been luckless. Back runners had little chance in the St Leger and he made good ground late to be less than four lengths off Katy Keen. Shotgun Star (4) is better than his Matamata fourth last time says. Dodgemallyoulike (3) has to be included.
