Rockhampton betting preview, best bets & quaddie picks | 24/5/23
Rockhampton is set to a 12 race program on Wednesday afternoon from 12:34PM local time. There's no feature races on the program which leaves a plethora of graded races. The 1st/2nd grade race over the 407m appears to be a cracking contest with the likes of Pitter Patter, Danish Cake, Periera and Chips In facing off for top honours.
Best Bet: Heslea (Race 3)
Local trainer Andrew Suli appears to have a strong hand this afternoon and will be looking to start strongly with his runner Heslea who faces masters company for the first time. The 42-month-old son of Fernando Bale x Miss Lauryn has raced without success for the past dozen starts after starting his Rockhampton venture off to a hot start. The former Victorian trained runner was a victim of his own success shooting straight through the grades and reaching top grade where he was unable to keep up with the best in Rockhampton. In recent times, he has run behind Guru Bart twice who lines up in the best 407m race on the program, Be The Best who had won four on the bounce before stepping up to the 510m and Loveless who has been racing well. He gets his first crack at Masters company where he will likely call home for the next month. With his box manners and capability to still run around the 24 second mark, he should be able to score his two wins quickly and resume racing in open graded affairs. From the inside box, he should have no trouble holding out Katara Love and Suite Nita drawn directly outside him and his main danger, Misunderstood is drawn tricky for a slow beginner in the squeeze box and will rely solely on luck in running. Expect Heslea to be off and running while making a successful start to his career as a masters chaser.
Best Bet
Race 3 – 
Heslea (1)
Form: 336466 | Career: 59: 6-8-8 | Trainer: Andrew Suli
Next Best: Prince Azara (Race 2)
Darren Taylor seems to have a talented young chaser in Princess Azara who will be looking to knock off her novice after running second last week. Prior to this, she had scored by upwards of five lengths in dashing fashion beating subsequent winner and kennel mate, Too Much Scotch in 23.93. Last week jumping from box four, she began well and sat behind leader and eventual winner Zipping Everest. The winner has put in a number of eye-catching runs in the past and has been threatening to put it all together which was on the wrong night for Princess Azara as she was unable to reel her in. It wasn't for a lack of not trying as she stuck on gamely running home in a strong 14.68 for novice company. Today's race doesn't appear to have the depth of last week's and she maps ideally to record her second win. Who's Travis, trained by leading trainer Ken Boody has shown good box manners since arriving in Central Queensland and will give Princess Azara the perfect cart into the race. She is clearly the superior and stronger dog of the two and punters can expect her to kick into overdrive heading down the back streaking away for a nice win.
Next Best
Race 2 – 
Princess Azara (2)
Form: 512 | Career: 3: 1-1-0 | Trainer: Darren Taylor
Best Value: Jonah Love (Race 5)
Jonah Love has already been subject to heavy support and appears the best value runner across the program. The former New South Wales chaser has raced exclusively over the 500m at Rockhampton, Ipswich and Bundaberg for new trainer David Raines; however, a step back to the 407m looks to be just what the doctor ordered. His best form in New South Wales was around the 400m where he scored his only two wins over the 388m at Gosford on debut and 400m at Maitland when going a solid 22.50. His record since arriving to Queensland has only declined however, it's not due to the dog's ability, more so the placement. He has raced well out of his grade in races such as the Rockhampton Cup Heats and Rockhampton Cup Consolation which has seen him being well beaten by the likes of Isurava, It's A Roo and Eagle Monelli who are all talented chasers. He hasn't drawn ideally from a middle draw and will need to be faultless however, it's safe to expect a return to some form now being well back in grade at his best trip.
Best Value
Race 5 – 
Jonah Love (5)
Form: 254687 | Career: 26: 2-7-4 | Trainer: David Raines
