Leading form expert Adam Blencowe has Shooting To Win on top of his 2015 George Ryder Stakes tips and he believes that the talented three-year-old will prove tough to beat in the Group 1 at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Shooting To Win has been one of the best-backed runners in 2015 George Ryder Stakes betting markets. Photo by: Steve Hart
Shooting To Win won the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) during the 2014 Spring Racing Carnival, but he is still chasing his first win this preparation after finishing fourth in the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens on February 21 and third in the Group 1 Royal Randwick Guineas (1600m) at Royal Randwick on March 7.
Blencowe believes that Shooting To Win can produced an improved performance when he is given the opportunity to take a sit in the early stages of the George Ryder Stakes and he told RSN he is happy to back the Northern Meteor colt at his current George Ryder Stakes odds of $4.60.
“I have Shooting To Win at $4 and I don’t think that he is an unfair bet in early markets,” Blencowe said.
“He ran to 122 last start and he has a peak of 125 that I expect him to work towards.
“It is going to be interesting to see him because he is one of the first three-year-olds to step out against the older horses in a race like this.
“We have seen Brazen Beau win the Newmarket last week and obviously Rubick in the spring, but we haven’t seen the three-year-olds pitched in that often against the older horses to date.
“If he is up to the level that we think he is, he is going to be hard to beat.”
The 2015 George Ryder Stakes is a very open betting race and the likes of Kermadec ($6), Cosmic Endeavour ($5) and World Ace ($7) are all available at single figure odds.
Blencowe has a high opinion of World Ace and believes that he is a genuine winning chance in the George Ryder Stakes, while he is confident that Criterion and Hooked can both play a part in the finish.
“I have a series of horses rated at $10 and they have all come off similar first-up runs,” Blencowe said.
“Horses like Criterion and Hooked both ran to 117 first-up and Hooked has a rating of 121 that he can improve to and Criterion is a bit ahead of that, but I wouldn’t expect him to go to his peak here.
“It’s Somewhat should probably get close to that mark and Cosmic Endeavour was coming back to them at the end of 1300 and there is a bit of a knock on her going to 1300, but you still have to respect her.
“World Ace is the pick of the Japanese horses, Real Impact has ratings in the past that are ahead of where we have him rated, but I’m not quite sure at this stage he is good enough to win a George Ryder.”
