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STAY ON TRACK - SELECTIONS

The $150,000 Chandon Civic Stakes is the feature event of a 10-race program at Royal Randwick this Saturday.

The rail is out 6m the entire circuit and the track is rated a Soft 6, with the forecast predicting mostly sunny conditions over the next few days.

This week’s selections: BG

BEST BET
SHADES OF ROSE (Race 5, No.5) - $2.800 favourite on TAB

Saturday 25th June – ROYAL RANDWICK

9. SOLAR APEX ($5 equal favourite on TAB) was every bit as good as Skyman last start at Rosehill and his stablemate went on to win the McKell Cup in emphatic fashion last Saturday. It was a race shape that gave the backmarkers no chance. The leaders crawled in front. Then throw into the mix that Solar Apex was shuffled back in the pack when the field bunched, making his run from last and being momentarily held up. He was entitled to sprint home quickly, as were all runners in the race, but his 34.32secs the last 600m was the quickest across the entire meeting. His lack tactical speed is his biggest crutch. Would love to think that he’d be able to use the draw to park up midfield but it’s perhaps wishful thinking. Either way, he is flying this time back and finds the perfect race fourth-up.

11. TAKSU ($6) didn’t let down on a firm track at Eagle Farm last start. He is yet to win in nine starts on good ground. He still wasn’t beaten all that far in a race that subsequently provided both the Gr 1 Stradbroke Handicap winner and last week’s Eye Liner winner. The six-year-old’s form prior to that reads well for this. He had been flying prior to the Queensland failure, relishing the wet tracks in Sydney. His two previous Randwick runs saw him bolt in over this same track and trip in April while first-up this campaign he ran second to Gravina. Expect Glyn Schofield to roll straight to the front on Taksu as per his usual free-rolling style and if he’s allowed to find a rhythm, he’ll take running down. Just won’t want the track to dry out too much.

Have been waiting for 8. IRISH ANGEL ($7.50) to drop back to 1100m. Her last three wins have come over the shorter trip. Last start she kept finding the line behind Per Inaway over 1200m at Rosehill with the placegetters Rubinocchi and Easifar subsequently franking the form. There is no denying that she isn’t the easiest mare to catch, and her record of four wins from 28 starts tells you that, but she gets a perfect set up here to run up to her best, which just about wins this. It’s her pet trip (11:3-3-2), there is a stack of speed engaged for her and she should get a soft track. Chad Schofield will have her smothered up on the fence looking to pick his way through the field late and with the breaks at the right time, she’ll take holding out.

8. SINBA ($3.70 fav) put five lengths on his rivals at Doomben first-up. He was just as impressive on the clock as he was to the eye too. The third horse there, beaten six lengths, has since won himself. A winner of four of his eight starts, we haven’t seen the best of this three-year-old yet and his two wins last campaign prompted Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou to deep end him in the Gr 1 Randwick Guineas and then the Gr 1 Rosehill Guineas. He was found out at that level but he didn’t look at that comfortable on heavy ground there either. Soft tracks have been okay for him in the past, however. He'll be allowed to balance up in the second half of the field before unleashing his powerful finish. Just hope he isn’t already looking for the mile.

View the final fields with full form & race replays for Rosehill Gardens here