Hendo’s Hopefuls: Saturday’s Best Roughies

Looking for the best Saturday roughies to get behind this weekend? Ladbrokes have you covered with their best value plays right here.

A couple of scratchings reduced our roughie strike-rate last weekend, but we still managed to find Thunderlips for a Randwick placing at a big price to help keep things ticking over.

This Saturday the countdown to the autumn majors revs up with strong cards at both Caulfield and Rosehill, and we’ve got the long shots worth a second look in the five Group status events around the nation.

She’s combed the form guides to unearth the forgotten fancies that can surprise. Check out The Value Whisperer’s best Saturday bets below.

Rosehill Race 3 – Group 3 $250,000 Canonbury Stakes (1100m)

No. 8 Confederation

CONFEDERATION (4) debuts in the Canonbury and looks overs from the Waller stable to make an immediate impact.

Drawn well in gate four with a small field of 2YOs gathered, he benefits from the booking of master hoop J-Mac, and he’s got the breeding to kick things off in style being a colt by Wootton Bassett.

He has had two promising Warwick Farm trials this month to get him race day ready, the latest of which had him running a close third behind Plagiarism in a hit out that showed he was putting it all together.

Anything McDonald sits on is a live chance for a top three run in a field of this size.

Rosehill Race 4 – Group 3 $250,000 Widden Stakes (1100m)

No. 1 Pearl Of Dubai

PEARL OF DUBAI (3) looks a sneaky good play in the Widden, and the market’s definitely sleeping on her.

She was terrific on debut back in October, only just missing behind Thrill Hunter in the Kirkham Plate (see below), and she’s tightened up nicely with two sharp trials since.

There was plenty to like about her spring prep — she moves like a filly who’ll be right up there with the better 2YOs this autumn, and this is the perfect kick-off point.

She draws well, meets them at level weights, and Andrew Adkins is riding as well as anyone right now.

She’s been completely overlooked in early betting and shapes as one of the better Each Way roughies on the card.

Terry Croft lands an upset in the Gow-Gates Kirkham Plate 🤯

Thrill Hunter salutes at huge odds with @AshMorgan6 aboard, defeating Pearl Of Dubai and Defensemen 🤑@moetchandon pic.twitter.com/BVaUAsqxj5

— Australian Turf Club (@aus_turf_club) October 25, 2025

Caulfield Race 6 – Group 3 $200,000 Chairman’s Stakes (1000m)

No. 8 La Gitana

LA GITANA (4) makes her debut in the Chairman’s and at around the $10 mark she’s exactly the sort of filly I want to roll the dice on.

She’s by Home Affairs — a proper dual Group 1 sprint star — so the engine is definitely there, and her lead-up work backs it up.

Four trials under the belt and two sharp jump out wins at Pakenham over summer tell you she hasn’t just been cruising through her pre-race prep.

She turns up here cherry ripe, draws perfectly in gate four, and gets Damian Lane to steer — massive ticks all round.

She’s got bigger goals down the track, but don’t be shocked if she lands a blow first-up.

Caulfield Race 7 – Group 3 $200,000 Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes (1200m)

No. 2 Proved

An open edition of the Bellmaine and PROVED (4) doesn’t look out of top three contention for mine.

Enver Jusufovic’s Kiwi-bred Time Test mare has had one previous run at Caulfield for a narrow win in last November’s Group 3 How Now Stakes at 25/1 (see below), and she’s been underrated by the bookies and punters alike for this.

In the How Now she narrowly denied Aviatress who goes around favourite in the markets for Saturday’s rematch, so surely Proved is in the mix?

Her current double-figure quote is explained by a flat return at Pakenham in mid-December when second last (13^th) behind Warnie in the Supernova at 50/1.

Still, she was only five lengths beaten from a wide gate without anything going her way.

She trialled well at Cranbourne in the interim showing enough to suggest improvement.

Back to her pet distance and she’s undefeated at the 1200m with a flawless four-from-four strike rate over the six furlongs.

Not the best weighted in the field but gets things her way from the alley and I like that Jye McNeil comes aboard.

Gets track conditions to suit, should bounce out and hit the lead from the alley, and I think she’s good enough if she gets left alone to stick with the task and hang on for the exotics.

PROVED 🔴⚪⚫

Another upset at Caulfield as Carleen and EJ strike with Proved in the G3 How Now Stakes!@jusufovicracing pic.twitter.com/O0NCQe86gT

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) November 15, 2025

Rosehill Race 8 – Group 3 $250,000 Group 3 JRA Plate (1200m)

Same Race Multi ($11.50 at time of publish)

Something a little different for the JRA Plate (formerly the Southern Cross Stakes).

It’s our feature Rosehill race on Saturday but with an open field of just eight there is a sole chance at double-figures making a genuine roughie impossible.

Instead, I’ve gone for value with a Same Race Multi.

• Top 2 – No. 2 The Instructor
• Top 3 – No. 8 Meridiana
• Top 4 – No. 5 Disneck

THE INSTRUCTOR (5) is the favourite in the JRA Plate, and he’s a rock-solid play for anyone chasing value in the top two markets. Third-up and fit, the Waterhouse & Bott-trained Russian Revolution gelding brings a tidy record at the trip and was better than it looked in the Magic Millions Sprint, where he burned a bit too much petrol early trying to match a hot tempo. He won’t be stopping late this time — smaller field, cleaner run, and conditions right in his wheelhouse. Adam Hyeronimus knows him inside out and sticks, and you can bet he’ll be positive from the gates. If he rolls to the front like he usually does, they’ll need to be good to get past him.

MERIDIANA (1) has been one of the early movers for Rosehill’s feature, and she’s exactly the sort of top three play I love for value. She’s two-from-two fresh, draws the rails, and finds a very winnable Group 3 to kick off her prep. We haven’t seen her since she ran a cracking second in a BM78 here over 1800m in November, lugging 58kg and only going down narrowly — so dropping to 53kg this time is a massive bonus. Sure, 1200m is short of her sweet spot, but the light weight and soft draw keep her right in the game, and the market support says others are catching on. Zac Lloyd sticks, she’ll flop out the back as usual, and if she gets the gaps late, she’s more than capable of charging into the finish.

DISNECK (8) pulled off a beauty fresh in the Standish, winning by nearly two lengths at double-figure odds, and there’s no reason he can’t measure up again against a very similar bunch in Sydney. He’s over the 1200m again, is fitter for that first-up victory, and the way he rounded them up at Flemington suggests he’s flying. He does go up a kilo, but Josh Parr jumps on — and he’s got a tidy record with Bjorn Baker’s sprinter. He’ll drift back from the gate, that’s just his pattern, but if they roll along up front, he’s exactly the type who can storm late and crash the exotics.

Happy punting!