Uncut Gems highlight Addington action this Friday night

By Michael Guerin

Punters are facing some challenges working out the stacked Uncut Gems at Addington on Friday.

The focus of harness racing returns south this week with a deep Addington meeting highlighted by last-start Northern Derby winner Jumal in the $50,000 Garrards’ Sires’ Stakes Semi Final.

He faces starting from the outside of the front line in a strong field but he has still opened a $1.28 favourite as he uses the 1980m mobile as his prep run for next week’s Final.

But not quite so easy to work out for punters will be the three Uncut Gems races, which kick off with the Cobbitty Farm Mares Classic as Race 5.

It brings together form from all over the South Island with Ruby Roe the $2.80 favourite in a race that has lost one of the early favourites in Christies Art who is scratched.

But it is the Aged Classic for the trotters that provides the greatest rarity of the night in a trotting race in that all but one runner, Princess Sadie, has winning form in their last five starts.

You could watch a lot of trotting races for a lot of years before finding too many where almost every horse has winning form including the in-form Dunn pair of Rock Lobster and One Over Da Line, Roydon Muscle, Tetrick and last Friday’s huge winner Prestigious.

The TAB bookies landed on Tetrick as the $4.60 favourite in a market with plenty of room to move.

The Betavet Uncut Gems Classic Pace has a far more dominant favourite in Sideshow Bruce at $1.60 but in a field that still has plenty of in-form horses and a few moving parts.

The Addington meeting also hosts the Studholme Bloodstock Bionic Chance for the juvenile pacing fillies in which Wat Fun is the $2.05 favourite and the Oliver Ryan And Family Canterbury Plains Final.

Further north Alexandra Park hosts just a seven-race meeting with two Metro Trot heats and one Metro Pacing Heat, the latter full of depth over the 1700m mobile.

To see the Addington fields click here 

To see the Auckland fields click here