Horse Racing Tips / Steve Mcghee / 25 October 2009 / Leave a comment Bet Now

A couple worth backing at the Sale Cup meeting on Sunday, with Custard in the three-year-old and Itstheone in the feature Cup event one race later.

The feature event $120,000 Sale Cup (1600m) on Sunday has drawn a good wide-open betting field but ITSTHEONE does look the wager.

The lightly tried seven-year-old, when fully fit and sound, is quite capable of burying this field and the stronger they go up front the faster he will run them down.

Itstheone is third up at Sale and he has won in that state before and finished a very close second the only other two times presented at the races in this condition, so you know this is a backable strike zone for the gelding.

He looks well-weighted at 54kg at Sale and his ability at this level has never been in question, as it is only his off-pacer racing style that has seen him win a fifth of his starts, as it could and should have been a lot more.

His place record lifetime has seen him pay a dividend in a third of his starts to go with the five wins, so he gets home hard no matter what the strength of opposition.

The gelding looked such a big improver last start in the Gold Nugget at Ballarat, when sixth beaten just under four lengths carrying 56.5kg, so much so that he had to be included wherever he lined up next.

The first and fifth horses home he met in the Gold Nugget last start, Excelltastic and Davcon, finished a not far away third and fourth respectively next time out in the Listed Seymour Cup (1600m), so the form thread strength is sound enough.

Davcon is a rival again on Sunday and giving Itstheone the same 2.5kg relief, which makes him a sound quinella pick.

Michael Rodd rides Itstheone for the potent Mark Kavanagh stable and he has won on the horse before, notably over a mile and that day defeating the talented Raffaello, which was then trained by Jim Marconi but is now in the Kavanagh stable.

Over the mile Itstheone has a super record from four starts for two wins, a very close second and that eyecatching last start sixth in the Gold Nugget.

The race before the Sale Cup is a $100,000 mile for three-year-olds and bettors may get some dessert before the main dish, with CUSTARD the one at odds to beat from her draw.

Custard has her share of weight in the race, with 57.5kg for a filly versus the colts and geldings seeming harsh at first glance, but there is a class edge involved.

The filly would relish some cushion in the Sale track, as the daughter of Lohnro has to date performed best under these conditions, but it is the 1400m on Sunday that I feel puts her on top.

Hardly any of her rivals have 1400m experience or form and most have not even attempted running any further at this stage, so she has that strength element on her side.

She was sprint placed at her first two juvenile starts over 1000m then rose 507m and scored at Listed level third up, in what was an easy blacktype kill at Morphettville.

Her resumption run this season was a heap better than it looked at Caulfield in the G3 McNeill Stakes (1200m), with the filly finishing thirteenth of fifteen and six and a half lengths from the winner, after settling in the rear group.

Starspangledbanner won the race from in front and he of course ran them ragged to score in the G1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) last start, after having finished a luckless fourth in the G3 Guineas Prelude the start before.

Last start saw Custard run in the G3 Thousand Guineas Prelude (1400m) and finish ninth beaten five lengths behind her stablemate Irish Lights, with a gear change and racing a lot closer on settling not working or suiting her at this level.

Irish Lights won the race and she proved the top spring filly, when winning the G1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) at her next start at Caulfield for trainer David Hayes.

It is not often in each run since resuming a three-year-old should strike both the male and female G1 winners this spring at Caulfield but Custard did and she will find the drop to Sale on Sunday simply enormous.