The oddly timed 1.12 Race is a decent looking group 3 and the betting is competitive.
My Love's Passion is 3lbs clear on the adjusted Racing Post Ratings with a figure of 125. The obvious place to start is the race where three of today's runners met and finished 1,2,3. They are numbers 11,12 and 13 on today's card and could form the basis of a combination forecast or tricast for punters who believe the form will hold up today. Wanaway got the verdict that day and that represented a good step forward with a new RPR of 103 compared to her previous best of 90, Oddly, she was tried at a mile behind Khayzaraan, who recently flopped in the Grotte but she has done better dropped to 5 and a half furlongs of late. The question is whether My Love's Passion or Abama can reverse form over today's slightly longer trip of near as damn it 6F? Arguably Abama finished best that day and I have seen it said that today's trip would help her but I though Wanaway held her fair and square that day and would have help her for another half furlong. My Love's Passion was more prominent that day and in a good position to kick but Wanaway reeled her in pretty decisively and in the end I felt My Love's Passion was fading and didn't hold on for third with much in hand from those catching up on her. I have to say that visually she seemed less likely than the other two fillies to like the 6F but the better ground may help her, the concern for me is that her Robert Papin 2nd may have been overrated to a degree. It's tricky to pick one of these three with total confidence but I would slightly prefer Wanaway based on the visual style of her win and the fact that it represented a good step up on her efforts last year.
Hooded is an interesting colt. He had a good level of form and lost twice by a short head, one of those narrow defeats coming in a Group 3 where he looked to have won before Kenway swooped to win in the very last stride in a finessed finish that was perfection in terms of timing. Graffard's colt has only had four starts and he could be decent as a horse already Group 3 grade to all intents. My worry, especially since his odds have cramped up is his final start of last season where he seemed to lack the toe to catch the pacesetters over the 7F trip. He's not an obvious candidate to be dropping to 6F.
Alocasia is a decent filly and her 5th place came in a Group 2 race, Also second to Grotte winner Tropbeau in a Group 3 last year, albeit a bit behind her she is a possible player
I went with Wanaway in the end at 4/1. I liked the way she finished her race last time out.
Tricky race though.
