Leneva Park Thoroughbreds (Bm58)

With the rail in the True position for this 1300m event, the inside section of the track will be the shortest way home. On a Soft 7 surface, this can be an advantage early in the day. Horses drawn low like #5 Bow Ribbon, #11 Tomanado, and #13 Dudance are positioned to save ground. If the inside begins to chop up later in the meeting, jockeys may look for superior ground slightly wider in the straight.

The Soft 7 rating will make this a demanding test of fitness. The predicted strong tempo will be amplified by the testing ground, ensuring that stamina is a critical factor in the concluding stages. Horses that have to work hard early will be extremely vulnerable late. This surface significantly enhances the chances of proven wet-track performers (e.g., #6 Hot Chips H10 win, #4 Sheer Lunacy H8 win) and places a major query on those with poor wet-track records (e.g., #10 Breezy Bon, who "failed to handle going" on a Soft 7).

The 1300m start at Wodonga offers a fair run to the first turn, but the track itself is known for being relatively tight. This penalises horses caught wide without cover, a likely scenario for the leader #1 Lovin' Laughs. The straight is not exceptionally long, meaning that backmarkers need the pace to be genuinely run to have a chance to run over the top; they cannot afford to be left flat-footed when the sprint begins from the 600m.

As a Benchmark 58 handicap, there is a mix of form lines. However, the presence of multiple horses with established, aggressive on-pace patterns makes the speed map more reliable than is often the case at this level. The weight scale is important on the soft ground; a horse like #13 Dudance carrying only 53.5kg receives a significant advantage over topweights like #1 Lovin' Laughs and #2 Rushford at 62.0kg.