Tony Nicconi started his career with two impressive wins, including a victory in the Vain Stakes, and he wasn’t disgraced behind Written By and Encryption in the Blue Sapphire Stakes. He is still a lightly-raced horse with the scope to improve and on exposed form he does have a clear class edge over the rest of this field.
Naantali has improved each time that she has been seen at the races this campaign and she was far from disgraced behind Set To Sparkle at Flemington last start. I think that the return to Caulfield suits and she maps to get the run of the race from barrier four with Damian Lane in the saddle. This is her chance to return to winning form.
This is an interesting edition of the Ladbrokes Manfred Stakes as the majority of this field will be looking for further. This is a step-up in class for Tin Hat, but he does have a fitness edge over his rivals and his two wins at Ladbrokes Park have been full of merit. Damian Lane will take him straight to the front and he will give his rivals something to catch.
Mr Money Bags beat a strong field to win at Flemington two starts ago and he was unlucky not to finish closer to Manolo Blahniq in the Chester Manifold Stakes. This is a genuine drop in class from that contest and a repeat of his recent form would be easily enough to account for this field. With any luck in running, he will prove tough to beat.