Balmont Girl's move rattles punters
Paula Wagg's decision to scratch Balmont Girl from the CB Cox Stakes and accept for the WA St Leger caused a major reshuffle of TAB markets yesterday.
Wagg followed the lead set by fellow trainer Adam Durrant with Perth Cup favourite Real Love and swung to the lesser St Leger.
Under the set weights of the Listed 2100m feature, Balmont Girl will incur a smaller penalty for the Perth Cup if she is victorious than she would have received by winning the Group 2 Cox Stakes. Perth Cup weights are released next Monday.
Balmont Girl strikes six other runners, including WATC Derby winner Respondent and Real Love.
Balmont Girl, last season's WA Oaks winner, finished 10th behind Moriarty in last Saturday week's Group 1 Kingston Town Classic (1800m), but she was found to be mildly lame in her near foreleg and had a skin condition.
TAB fixed-odds betting manager Ben Pomatti said Balmont Girl had been heavily backed from $4 into $3.60 in the 24 hours after the Cox Stakes field was finalised on Monday.
"Her withdrawal has meant a major reshuffle of the market," Pomatti said.
"Bass Strait now looms as our worst result with a $1000 bet at $23 each-way and Ihtsahymn looks our second-worst result with good money coming for him since his eighth in the Kingston Town."
Railway Stakes winner Elite Belle firmed from $3.80 into $2.85, while Bass Strait was $4 last night after opening at $5.
Meanwhile, Gino Poletti has put winkers on 2013 Kalgoorlie Cup winner Classique Ivory for the Cox Stakes.
Poletti worked Classique Ivory in winkers on the Ascot grass on Tuesday morning and was happy with his effort.
"I feel he was getting too comfortable in his races," Poletti said. "He wore blinkers until 10 starts ago.
"With winkers they don't pull as hard and you can take them off straight away where you can't do that with blinkers. He clipped up in his work well on Tuesday.
"His form is similar to before he went to Kalgoorlie. He needs to have those four to five runs before he starts to hit his straps."
·The TAB-owned Sky Racing will no longer telecast races from NSW and Victoria following the breakdown in negotiations with rights holder TVN. The short-term contract between the two companies ceased yesterday after two years of wrangling.
"Her withdrawal has meant a major reshuffle of the market." " TAB fixed-odds betting manager *Ben Pomatti *
with AAP
