Gai Waterhouse | Gai Waterhouse News 56211 Playing By The Rules

Our Racing Manager, Emma Reeves, aids us with programming and identifies who she thinks is the best placed horse each weekend.

Military Mission,  Saturday 2nd Sept, Royal Randwick, Race 5:

Once again it’s a step into the unknown for many on Saturday which is exciting, but they aren’t perfectly ‘playing by the rules’. That will change over the coming weeks as they get deeper into their preparations but this week there’s only one horse who ticks every single box, Military Mission. Interestingly Gai said to me about a month ago that older horses improve significantly second up. Maybe that seems obvious, but I put the theory to the test with Military Mission and Vreneli, both of whom were arguably below their best first up, and she was spot on. It’s a small sample group but something that I’m keeping at the forefront of my mind, especially with so many being first or second up this weekend. Military Mission is third up on Saturday, Rachel knows him well and has always been keen to stick with him, even after his first up run. He is suitably weighted, he’s been successful at this level and he handles all track conditions should there be any more rain. There are no boxes left to tick so he had to be this week’s pick.