Betting tips / Ben Asgari / 20 July 2012 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

With the first-up run under her belt, Ben Asgari expects Loveyamadly to bounce back into the winner's stall at Flemington on Saturday in the Mark Taylor Handicap (1000m).

Trained by Mick Price at Caulfield, Loveyamadly returned from a spell on her home track with a very good third behind the promising Peter Moody-trained Le Societe. 

Unbeaten in her first two start preparations over the summer months, it was actually her first-up defeat that created the most impression. After settling outside the leader on a hot speed, Loveyamadly booted clear at the top of the straight and looked the winner 150 metres from home, before being grabbed in the shadows of the post. The three other horses caught in the early speed battle finished eleventh, twelfth and fifteenth respectively.

The winner, Le Societe, has since run a very good fourth at stakes level, when probably unlucky to have finished closer, while the fifth horse, Cavallo Nero, performed similarly creditably when an unlucky runner-up at Flemington. 

Set to carry 57kgs after the handy two-kilo claim for in-form apprentice Ben Knobel, crucially, Loveyamadly has drawn in barrier six of the twelve-horse field for her first try down the Flemington straight. This leaves Knobel the option to take a trail behind the speed should the likes of Leoncita or Slewsay want to fly along early.

Now with the first-up run under her belt, Loveyamadly should have improved fitness-wise heading into Saturday's assignment and @ around Betfair odds of (3.0) in the early markets, looks a great way to start the day's punting. 

Though I don't believe Star Lani represents value at her current quote, the untapped Luke Oliver-trained filly does look the obvious danger. A straight-out quinella with the two may be a good insurance policy as there looks a clear gap in my opinion to the third highest-rated winning hope.