The Gold Rush Preview and Tips 14/12/24

Group One racing might be over for another year, but there are still a couple of year races with enough prize money to rival Group One races. Our attention has best out West, with heaps of high-quality racing at Ascot Racecourse. We have one final key race at the track, The Gold Rush, which is a Group Three.

There’s a full field of 16 runners and two runners in particular are fighting it out for favouritism. We’ve seen races like the Railway Stakes, the Winterbottom Stakes and the Northerly Stakes, so there’s been no shortage of quality racing out West. Along with The Gold Rush at Ascot, we see The Ingham, which is raced in Sydney.

My Saturday tips have landed here at OnlyRacing and I’ve done the heavy lifting for you, going through all the runners in the field and analysing their chances of success at Ascot. There’s something for everyone with my tips, as I have selected five best bets of runners I think will have a good race.

There looks to be moderate speed in this race, with the likes of Comfort Me and Red Can Man the two that have the barrier speed and will look to push forward from wide-ish barriers. The likes of Searchin’ Roc’s and Wind And The Lion should also be in contention for one of the leader positions.

At the time of writing, there are two equal favourites, Western Empire and Super Smink. I think the pair of them will settle in mid-field, with Western Empire jumping from barrier 15 and Super Smink from barrier five. The pair will need to use all of their closing speed and find the right gaps to win this one.

Having another crack at Super Smink after the mare was my safe bet for the Northerly Stakes last Saturday and didn’t perform as I had hoped. It’s a two-horse race, according to the bookies and I’m siding with Super Smink, who is currently the equal-favourite, with odds of $4.60, at PlayUp.

The mare is on the one-week back-up after finishing ninth in the Northerly Stakes, but just 3.9L off the leader. She’s also coming down in trip, which is a query, but she can overcome that with the amazing turn of foot she possesses. Will need the right breaks at the right time, but is due for some luck.

I’ve put down Western Empire as my safe bet for The Gold Rush and I think he will run in the top three. We haven’t seen a lot of him lately, but this looks like an ideal race for him and I would be surprised if he doesn’t finish top-three. With Bet365, Western Empire is the favourite and is currently going around with odds of $4.40.

I’m putting a line through his Winterbottom Stakes run last time out because not a lot went right and William Pike put in a rare poor performance. Pikey was due to take the ride again here, but after an e-scooter accident, it’s Billy Egan that takes the ride. The gelding draws wide in The Gold Rush, so Egan will need to be on his A-game.

It’s been a bit of a mixed back for Magnificent Andy this year. On his day, he is good enough to beat the likes of Western Empire and Searchin’ Roc’s. On the other hand, he has fallen to others that he will face off in this one, including Super Smink and Comfort Me. While his results have been a mixed bag, with the field he’ll be up against, I think he is right in this one.

The 6YO is currently on the third line of betting with Dabble, paying $9.00 to take the win on Saturday. His barrier draw is the thing that tipped me over in favour of the gelding. He gets barrier four and I think he maps well in this one. Finished fourth last time out in the Railway Stakes, just 1.2L off the leader and has a lot of races at Ascot under his belt.

I think Bustler is going a little unnoticed in the market right now, so for that reason, he gets my vote at the danger for The Gold Rush on Saturday. Coming through the Northerly Stakes where he finished fourth, 2.2L off the leader. This will be his fourth run in a row at Ascot and before this prep, he has won on five occasions at this track.

Gets his regular rider, Steve Parnham, back in the saddle and a further improvement from his Northerly Stakes could be in the cards on Saturday. At the time of writing, Bustler is paying $15 to win, with QuestBet. Drops back to 1,400m here as well, which I think is an excellent call.

If you’re looking for a great each-way play, I think I’ve found one with Ripcord. Has been racing down in Melbourne for the Spring and was okay without being extraordinary. He now returns home to Ascot and it looks as though trainer Luke Fernie has been waiting for The Gold Rush to roll around for Ripcord.

We haven’t seen him since November 2, when he ran ninth in The Damien Oliver. He has had a tick-over trial since then and it was impressive enough for me to think he’ll do alright in this one. Will likely sit near the rear of the field, with one final crack at them. At the time of writing, you can get odds of $17 for Ripcord to win the race, with Bet Right.

All my The Gold Rush horse racing tips and their odds can be found here:

Bookmaker	Tip	Odds
	Super Smink (win)	$4.60
	Western Empire (each-way)	$4.40/$2.15
	Magnificent Andy (place)	$3.00
	Bustler (place)	$4.40
	Ripcord (place)	$5.25