Found it quite difficult to write up the Sydney Specials this week with plenty of question marks surrounding the track at Randwick.
As of Thursday afternoon Randwick has received 191mm this week with 50mm coming in the last 24 hours.
There are only two early scratchings however expecting a sea of red come Saturday morning.
Hoping I am wrong however there are a few high up in the early betting that don't handle wet ground and appear unlikely to run (Coolangatta, Maotai and Quantico).
As a result you are in a real holding pattern.
The John Sargent trained Mayrose surprised a few first up (25-1) however there was no fluke about her win and she looks hard to beat in the second event.
Only lightly raced she brought up her second win from five starts and returned a new career peak in the process.
Electing to drift back from the wide draw she was allowed to balance up in the straight before hitting the line well down the outside.
We are yet to see any other runners come out of the event however pre-race it appeared a strong race on paper.
Have had a bit of success backing the three-year-olds against the older horses and Mayrose fits that mould on Saturday.
Placed at her only previous attempt on a heavy track she should be able to settle closer from the inside draw and looks well placed down at the weights.
Will need a touch of luck getting away from the inside but with clear air she looks hard to beat.
The Group 1 Surround Stakes sees the rematch of Espiona and Fangirl with the wet track throwing another spanner in the works.
Fangirl beat Espiona all ends up in the Light Fingers Stakes and no reason to think she can't beat her again.
The wide draw means she will get back however Bowman had no issue stalking Espiona first up and expect him to do very similar on Saturday.
Yet to be tested on a heavy track, though being by Sebring you'd suspect Fangirl will handle the conditions.
The fact she was so strong at the end of the mile in the Carbine Club Stakes also suggests a true test will play right into her hands.
We felt the gap between them first up was too big and again it looks a little big on Saturday.
Simon Dinopoulos' Tips:
Race 2 #10 Mayrose @ $4.80
Race 8 #3 Fangirl @ $4.40
