Apprentice Jacob Opperman has a strong book and shapes as the hoop to follow at Ballarat on Sunday

Ballarat racing Sunday will be conducted on a heavy track and despite a few scratchings the fields have held up well.

BEST BET

STRIPPED BACK (Race 6 No 1)

Stripped Back could not have been more impressive on debut trailing the pace before charging clear late for an impressive win at Ararat.

That was back in January and if there’s any query it’s only the lack of a recent run for Stripped Back but confident master trainer Lindsey Smith wouldn’t be taking Stripped Back to the races unless the Turffontein gelding was ready and capable of handling the heavy (8) surface.

NEXT BEST

MARK THE HORSE (Race 5 No 3 – $4.80)

The Michelle Payne-trained Mark The Horse has come back in top form winning his only two starts this time in training and there’s no reason he can’t continue on his winning way today.

He led throughout to win over 1624m at Donald at his first run for nearly six months then took his game to another level winning a 1700m Benchmark 64 highweight at Warrnambool by five lengths last time when again leading throughout.

The speed map suggests only be a moderate tempo and Mark The Horse should either lead or race right on the speed and prove extremely difficult to get past.

BEST VALUE

CHARACTER (Race 1 No 3 – $9)

James Cummings-trained galloper Character has only had three starts but done plenty of travelling stepping out in three different states.

He debuted with a midfield performance when well in the market at the Gold Coast then back to Sydney and a fourth at Warwick Farm before spelling.

After 19 weeks off he was back at the races but never looked likely when seventh at Moe on a heavy track after easing from $3.20 to $5.50.

Damien Oliver sticks with the son of Teofilo and prepared to give the colt another chance around double figure odds.

JOCKEY TO FOLLOW

Apprentice Jacob Opperman has a mixed bag of rides at Ballarat on Sunday but he’s still worth following with six mounts on the eight-race program.

ITALIAN POET (Race 1 No 16 – $4.80), TAKAHE (Race 3 No 5 – $151), TWELVE GAUGE (Race 4 No 6 – $26), CRYPTO CURRENCY (Race 5 No 2 – $3.70), GRAND HOST (Race 6 No 10 – $10), CAPRICORN RIDGE (Race 8 No 5 – $6)

QUADDIE

3, 4, 5, 7

1, 11

2

3, 4, 8

(24 combinations)

Originally published asOn The Punt: Tips and Best Bets Ballarat Sunday

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