The Champions Sprint – previously known as the Darley Sprint Classic or the VRC Sprint Classic – is the major sprint event at the Melbourne Cup Carnival. It is run over 1200 metres down the Flemington straight on the final day of the carnival. Current prizemoney is $3 million.
Champions Sprint 2022: Pro punter preview
Track It’s raced quite well so far this week. The rail will go out again to cover the wear on the inside and they’ll get out a bit further if they need to. In the races up the straight, they’ll move away from the inside of track. It’s very similar to how it plays most years.
Speed The pace is good here. Front Page, Rothfire and Nature Strip will all go forward. Levante and Roch ‘N’ Horse will follow the speed. Giga Kick and Bella Nipotina will settle midfield.
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Champions Sprint: Runner-by-runner
Prices courtesy of TopSport at time of publication.
1 Nature Strip [$1.95] ran well first-up then was disappointing in The Everest. He has a good record down the straight but is eight years old now and may not have much improvement left. He’s obviously a very good chance and I have him on top but looks a bit short for me.
14 Giga Kick [$5.50] is now unbeaten in five career starts and won The Everest with a career peak last start. It’s hard to predict which way he’ll go here performance-wise. I’ve left the rating the same as The Everest and I think it’s fair enough he’s second pick.
9 Bella Nipotina [$6] produced a fantastic rating at The Valley in the Manikato. I’m not sure she can repeat that here and I assume she’d regress to her norm. She’s been down the straight four times for zero wins. She’s still a decent chance but could go either way.
5 Paulele [$21] is a funny horse… she ran well two starts back at Caulfield in the Schillaci in a small field. She loses McDonald here which is a negative. I’d want decent odds to back her.
11 Roch ’N’ Horse [$26] races well down the straight and gets a good run just off the pace here. She deserves to be decent odds but she’s a good blow-out chance if the favourites fail.
12 Levante [$26] ran well in the Newmarket when she was first home on the wrong side of the track. She sits off the pace here and is drawn out which should be an advantage. Again, she’s entitled to be these odds but would be a chance if the favourites bust.
4 Rothfire [$34] is racing consistently. He settles on the speed here. It’s his first time down the straight and he would need a few to rate well down to win.
13 Argentia [$34] ran well on Derby Day at this track and distance. She’ll get a long way back here though and will have better horses in front of her.
10 September Run [$41] will get back and run on here. She races well down the straight. I’m not sure she’s going well enough though.
8 Baller [$51] has run well down the straight before, but that rating would only give him a rough chance here.
7 The Astrologist [$91] likes racing down the straight. He’s probably outclassed here but will settle on the pace. He’s entitled to be big odds.
I don’t think the rest are good enough to figure here: 6 Front Page [$31], 2 Masked Crusader [$34], 15 Lofty Strike [$41], 3 The Inferno [$101].
Champions Sprint: Betting strategy
Best value bets Levante, Roch ‘N’ Horse, (Giga Kick)
Nature Strip should be favourite here but for me he’s too short here. I think the best way to go is to have a couple of small bets on those that are value, and I have Levante and Roch ‘N’ Horse rated around $15. I’ll also include Giga Kick here… I have him rated about $6 so if there is a drift on raceday, he could be worth a bet at appropriate odds.
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