There’s nothing like a feature weight-for-age clash over the mile to cap off a big week of carnival racing, and this Champions Mile edition is packed with class and intrigue.

It’s a classic contest between the seasoned, weight-carrying older horses and two up-and-comers.

Sectional tempos, tactics, and key momentum shifts will play a major role, especially if the early pace remains only moderate.

We’re all familiar with markets that overreact to big race wins, but this time bookmakers seem to have taken it too far and have misjudged the odds.

While it’s a wide-open betting race early on and two of the equal three-way favourites are both significantly under the odds.

Neil Evans continues to nail his Feature Race best bets

Land his early prices for this week & subscribe to his tip package now!.

VRC Champions Mile 2024 Tips and Best Bets

Track Conditions

We’re likely looking at a surface around the Soft 5 range, or perhaps a bit firmer, with the rail now pushed out to 8m.

With the relentless wear over Flemington this week, expect the racing pattern to shift wider and favour horses coming from off the pace.

The Speed Map

No surprises here, two weeks after fading from the front in the Cox Plate, Pride Of Jenni will try her luck again by going forward from a middle barrier.

From an ideal gate, Mr Brightside should secure a lovely run just behind the speed, along with My Oberon and Another Wil, who has drawn low and can settle right behind the leader.

Longshot Desert Lightning, along with Antino who will need to navigate a tough draw, should land somewhere around the next group.

This leaves the top-notch mare Fangirl, the colt Broadsiding, Amelia’s Jewel, and the underrated Pinstriped all positioned well back in the third of the field.

All four are drawn past halfway out or even wider.

Mr Brightside

The Favourite

It’s hard to pinpoint a clear favourite as three contenders opened at the $5.50 line, though personally I find two of them overpriced.

Of course, Aninto's explosive win in the Group 1 Toorak Hcp where he circled from well back before the turn and exploded away by six lengths will remain as one of the biggest wins all year.

But four weeks between runs, up sharply to 59kg at weight-for-age and drawn off the track, anything under $9.00 is poison.

In fact, he dead-set cannot win!

The same applies to Pride Of Jenni who although is likely to give her all, will be vulnerable in the final 300m against this calibre of competition.

She can’t win either!

The third of these widely-favoured runners, Mr Brightside, has a solid map and is a genuine winning chance.

However I’d need a slightly better price to be particularly interested.

Pride Of Jenni

Pride Of Jenni winning the Queen Elizabeth at Randwick

Neil's Best Bet

On the seven-day backup, this race is perfectly set up for Amelia’s Jewel to peak and her opening price of around $16.00 was incredible.

She closed well to finish just behind the placings in the Group 1 King Charles III at Randwick, then flew late to narrowly miss Atishu in the Group 1 Empire Rose at Flemington last Saturday.

She’s right at her peak now, loves firm ground and looks primed to deliver her best run of the carnival.

Amelia's Jewel

The Dangers

Broadsiding ($6.50) ran a beauty in the Cox Plate.

While Via Sistina left him behind at the 500m mark, let’s remember that mare clocked the fastest final 1000m in Cox Plate history.

Broadsiding rallied well to finish third, despite being well off the winner and the stronger Michael Dee now takes the reins.

Also worth considering is Steffi Magnetica ($14.00), who ran an impressive and unlucky race in the Golden Eagle.

Fangirl ($6.50) has plenty of class but may not be at her peak this carnival.

Neil's Top Five

Amelia's Jewel
Mr Brightside
Fangirl
Broadsiding
Steffi Magnetica

For thousands more tips including free selections for today's racing, head to Australia's best racing tips market at thegreattipoff.com.

Neil Evans

Neil Evans Tips Feed