The Invitation Preview and Tips 26/10/24

As is always the case during Spring, there’s a massive stack of quality races on this weekend. One such race, The Invitation, will take place at Randwick Racecourse, alongside the Spring Champion Stakes. Not to be outdone, it’s Cox Plate Day down in Melbourne. This means all our attention will be split between the two states.

While The Invitation may not have Group One status, it does have Group One level prize money and is an invite-only race for NSW and ACT-trained runners. This is just one weekend of action and there are plenty more Group One races coming up, including the race we’ve all been waiting for, the Melbourne Cup.

I’ve got my Saturday tips for all three key races this weekend and you can check them all out here at OnlyRacing, but for this article, I’m focusing on The Invitation. All 12 runners in the field have been evaluated and I’ve come up with my best bets for the race on Saturday. Let’s take a look at who I’ve got on top.

I think The Invitation will be run at a fairly fast pace this year, with the likes of Queues Likely and Coco Jamboo setting the tempo out front. It’s a fairly open field, but the current narrow favourite with PlayUp, Magic Time, will likely settle just off the pace, finding some cover and leaving enough in the tank for the closing stages.

Another one of the main chances, Zougotcha, according to PlayUp, should settle just behind the leaders from barrier five. Olentia should settle in the midfield, not expending too much energy, to unleash her fast closing speed.

Another race, another open field, there must be something in the air! Hopefully, the thing that’s in the air is magic, specifically Magic Time because that’s who I’ve got on top for The Invitation in 2024. The 5YO mare is currently the narrow favourite with PlayUp, paying $3.40 to take the win.

She’s contesting The Invitation second-up after finishing in fourth place in the Group Two Gilgai Stakes last time out. It’s been confirmed this is Magic Time’s Grand Final, with trainer Grahame Begg opting to not take her through the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes. If this is her Grand Final, you would think she’s prepped and ready to give it her all.

I think you’d have to agree that Zougotcha is a pretty safe bet for The Invitation on Saturday. She had an excellent Autumn Racing Carnival and returned well this prep finishing second by just 0.1L in the Group One Winx Stakes. After that, she flopped a little in the 7 Stakes, but she has been back to the trials since then.

That’s a good sign and she also gets a tongue tie on for the first time, so I’m expecting a sharp improvement here. Zougotcha is currently one of the more favoured runners in the market, with odds of $4.20 to win the race, thanks to Bet365. Gets the benefit of a good barrier, so she has a lot of options to work with.

There are a couple of true blue roughies in the market that are decent enough, but I think the real value lies with Makarena, who is currently paying $8.50 to win The Invitation with Dabble. There isn’t a lot of love going around for this 4YO in the market and while I don’t think she should be the favourite (or close to), she shouldn’t be near the double-digit mark.

I think a lot of people have looked at her last race and discounted Makarena. Last time out she didn’t do a lot in the Alan Brown Stakes, but she was stuck wide with no cover. If you look back just one race before that, she was dominant in the Group Two Golden Pendant, winning by 1.3L in front of the likes of Amelia's Jewel and Semana.

Olentia is on the third line of betting in this very open market, with QuestBet offering $5.75, at the time of writing, for her to win The Invitation in 2024. I think she is a massive danger in the race, but I haven’t ranked her higher because of her inconsistency. On her day, she could win this race, that’s for sure.

Yes, every runner is going to have their bad days, but it just seems more prevalent for me in Olentia. She also looks to be targeting major races, like the Sir Rupert Clake Stakes and a win or good performance here will certainly improve her chances. I’m hoping for back-to-back quality performances after she won The Nivison last time out.

We haven’t seen Roll On High since June, but that prep was decent enough starting with a win in the Group Three Fred Best Classic and finishing with a fifth in the Group One Tattersall's Tiara, 2.7L off the pace. I’m not sure if the mare is good enough to win this one, but she is certainly good enough to run top three if others slip up.

Roll On High is currently paying $13 to win The Invitation with Bet Right. She seems to be somewhat of a market mover at the moment as well, opening with odds of $21 and getting as low as $10. I reckon Roll On High has among the fastest closing speeds in the race, it’s just a matter of how far back she gets.

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

Bookmaker	Tip	Odds
	Magic Time (win)	$3.40
	Zougotcha (each-way)	$4.20/$1.85
	Makarena (place)	$2.90
	Olentia (each-way)	$5.75/$2.05
	Roll On High (place)	$3.70