Matt Reid’s best bets for Friday racing at Launceston (28/03)

It’s a feature program in Launceston on Friday night, with the eight-race card including the $50,000 Alfa Bowl for two-year-olds.

The track raced well a week ago with the rail in true, and it moves to +2m this week.

The weather forecast is fine, so I’d expect the track to race in the good range.

Best bet

Race 6 – 1. Hurricane Ketut

Hurricane Ketut chases three wins in succession, all over the Launceston mile. His two recent wins have been near identical, with the jockey making a mid-race move off a slow tempo before dashing well clear in the home straight. That may need to be the case again with a lack of speed in the race on paper, but this looks like a perfect race for Hurricane Ketut at this stage of his preparation.

Next best

Race 7 – 1. Ashfall

Another Tasmanian “import”, Ashfall has paid his way with two wins from his six starts for the John Keys stable. He gets out to a staying trip for the first time down here, a distance he should be looking for, given he was a winner over a similar journey at the Sunshine Coast last year. Ashfall meets limited opposition and should have a class edge on his rivals.

Best value

Race 2 – 4. Belpine Miss

Given the small fields, value may be hard to come by on this card, but Belpine Miss is one runner at each-way odds that I’ve marked much shorter than the market. Two of her three career wins have come at the track and distance, and she wasn’t far off causing an upset two starts back at a huge price. She always needs luck and a good steer with her racing pattern, but if the track races as it did last Friday, she will be the one storming home late.

Selections

Race 1: 2-5-3-1
Race 2: 4-10-6-2
Race 3: 7-8-5-2
Race 4: 6-3-5-4
Race 5: 2-1-4-6
Race 6: 1-2-8-3
Race 7: 1-4-2-6
Race 8: 2-1-5

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