Expressway Stakes 2016 racing preview

29 January 2016 14:10 PM

Rosehill received a drenching on Friday after freak storms swept through the Sydney area. No doubt that will have a significant impact on the Soft 6 track reading at 8 am this morning.

Race seven is the Group 2 Expressway Stakes running over 1200m under weight-for-age conditions. It's a compact field of eight currently with a lot of early betting activity creating a volatile market for punters.

One of the runners getting a lot of attention from punters is the Hawkes trained Our Boy Malachi. Punters are noting his recent trial win where he gapped Solicit by 3 lengths and his 6 wins and a place from 7 first-up starts. Berry should get him a nice sit in the race with barrier 4 in a small field with it likely to come down to raw talent in the straight. He has three wins from three starts on Soft tracks so no problem there either.

Generalife is a big threat to the favourite. He is first-up too after a luckless preparation where he should of probably had two more wins under his belt. While strong over the 1200m he tends to get better over a little longer these days. No knock though.

Solicit resumes here after a good trial behind the favourite. Hasn't run back to this distance for a while, with recent races over middle distances. Should be competitive.

Tiger Tees was first-up in a similar race last prep finishing only 1.7 lengths behind Terravista. Runs well fresh. Is he up to winning at this level now?

King's Troop hasn't lived up to the promise of his first preparation so far when he ran close seconds to Japonisme on two occasions. Excuses last run after a slow start from the barriers. Worth keeping an eye on.

River Lad and Big Money are both useful prospects however they may find this a bit tough.

1st Our Boy Malachi. I think this bloke wins without bad luck and the smaller field reduces his chances of him getting that. He's still value at or above $2.25 in my book.

2nd Tiger Tees

3rd Generalife

Mike Steward