The swamp is back and who better to handle the conditions than the Ryan and Alexiou trained Williamsburg.
An impressive winner of the Dulcify Stakes last weekend, Williamsburg brought up his fourth career win and his third on a heavy track.
An eye catcher two back in the Ming Dynasty, he proceeded to take a good step forward last weekend when rounding them up from last.
He returned a new career peak and now gets out beyond a mile for the first time in his career.
Out of Group 1 winning mare Fenway, he is bred to relish the extra journey and love the set up.
The Rogerson trained Sharp 'N' Smart is the early favourite, however it's easy to draw a straight line between he and Political Debate.
The latter is a double figure chance and while Sharp 'N' Smart won in his return, it was a fairly scuzzy win.
We also haven't seen him on a wet track which has to be a query especially given he is 28 days between runs and up 400m in trip.
Williamsburg will be forced to go back from the wide draw but it should be a fairly straight forward ride, McEvoy just has to get him to the outside.
Have him marked favourite and expect him to take some holding out.
I hate the concept, but happy to have a bet in the Silver Eagle.
From it's three runnings, a horse is yet to complete the feature double or even place in the Golden Eagle, however a top three finish secures an all-important start in feature on the 29th of October.
2021: Aim > Ran 18th
2020: Flit > Ran 10th
2019: The Inevitable > Ran 12th
In total 13 runners have contested the Golden Eagle through the Silver Eagle with Count De Rupee boasting the best result, finishing second last year.
The Chris Waller trained Waterford doesn't have the runs on the board (yet) but is clearly a horse trending the right way, unbeaten in three starts in Australia.
Love the way Waller has brought him along and the fact he throws him straight in the deep end is as good a sign as any.
They won't come back to him as easily as Tamerlane did last start, but he sets up well back in trip with four weeks between runs.
Berry sticks aboard and with even luck he can get home over the top.
Also worth noting that the ratings jump isn't as big as what the OHR would have you believe, there just isn't 25 rating points (12.5kg) between Mr Mozart and Waterford.
On Timeform's scale we make it Mr Mozart (110) vs Waterford (107) – based on their last start.
On career best form it is 116 Vs 107 – nine pounds or 4kg – which would translate to eight ratings point on the OHR scale.
He likely starts clear second pick and is worth taking the punt on, I think he's pretty smart.
Simon Dinopoulos' Tips:
Race 7 #3 Williamsburg @ $4.20
Race 8 #12 Waterford @ $4.60
