Race 1A (Ballarat) – BM 70 (think Opt. Claiming $16,000/N1x allowance), 5.5 furlongs, track a “soft 5.” 8:25 PM EST

Scratch #3 Ticket to Toorak, #5  Impulsive Spirit, #16 Abohar and #17 Rinaldo

I really liked #3 Ticket to Toorak in this spot, but he’s scratched out, so I am going to go with my second selection #2 Judges (3/1 ML), who has a high earnings per start (usually a good guide to quality in these lower handicaps), is lightly raced (perhaps indicating more improvement could be had). and it’s “last race speed figure” is the best in the field by quite a margin.  Usually horses in Australia making their second start off a spell usually have more upside too.

Judges likes to run on the pace, but after the scratches there does not appear to be much other speed entered.  Current odds with Australian oddsmaker CrownBet is 7/2.