Almanac (Jumps) Racing Preview: Warrnambool, 28 March 2025

#AusJumpsRacingPreviews – Warrnambool, 28 March 2025

The 2025 jumps racing season kicks off at Warrnambool this coming Friday, 28 March, with two Hurdle races and one Steeplechase around the famed Warrnambool course. With conditions in the south-west being very dry at the moment, the track team at Warrnambool will have been working overtime to provide ground in soft condition and suitable for jumps racing.

Following a significant review of jumps racing in Victoria at the end of the 2024 jumps racing season, the start of the season is slightly later this year along with a number of other measures endorsed by Racing Victoria in an attempt to make jumps racing safer.

There have been three sets of jumps trials leading into Friday, two at Warrnambool and one at Cranbourne, with all of Friday’s runners having trialed at least once (even if they’ve raced over jumps previously) in preparation for Friday’s racing.

Small but competitive fields and some well known names amongst the trainers and owners are the theme of the day, with the first of three jumps races on Friday at 12 noon.

My selections are as follows:

Race 1 – Maiden Hurdle 3200m

4 Loft, purchased from overseas in 2022 to run in the Melbourne Cup, is my selection here. I’m a believer that they have to be pretty smart to win at their first race start over jumps and that’s what I’m selecting Loft to do here.

Jumping seems to have sparked him up and he’s trialed very well for his jumps racing debut here on his home track of Warrnambool where he’s trained by very successful ex jumps jockey, Shane Jackson. He’ll wear the well known Ozzie Kheir racing colours and be ridden by Tom Ryan, who has ridden him in all three of his recent jumps trials.

Loft will be too goo for 1 Balinor, a last start 3000m winner at Moonee Valley who has had one race start over hurdles and is trained by Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald, with 7 Whiskey Tango a placegetter over hurdles and trained by experienced jumps racing conditioner Patrick Payne in partnership now with his Melbourne Cup winning sister, Michelle.

4 Loft – 1 Balinor – 7 Whiskey Tango

 

Race 2 – Open Hurdle 3200m

I’m steering away from the runner I think will be favorite here and going with 6 Treasured Crown, who has joined the Symon Wilde team at Warrnambool, with a view to no doubt giving him his best opportunity over jumps in 2025. Treasured Crown won a Maiden Hurdle at Sale in June 2024, when trained by Greg Eurell, and was subsequently around the mark in stronger jumps races in 2024.

He’s trialed up very well in preparation for this race and showed a zest for racing at Ballarat on March 7, when leading for a long way over 2000m before fading to be beaten a little over 8 lengths. Off his recent trials I think he’s got plenty of potential as a jumper and with the pull in the weights here over 1 Prismatic he can make a winning start to his 2025 jumps racing campaign. 1 Prismatic is no doubt the one to beat and is a winner around this course, with another one-time potential Melbourne Cup runner, Schabau, the other danger. Lake Fyans/Stawell trainer, Andrew Bobbin, has two runners here, including Schabau, and has built up a strong jumps racing team for the 2025 season.

6 Treasured Crown – 1 Prismatic – 5 Schabau

 

Race 3 – Open Steeplechase 3450m

This is a very good steeplechase to start the season and no doubt most of these will be warming up for a steeplechase at the famous Warrnambool Carnival in late April/early May this year.

3 The Mighty Spar ran second to Wil John in a Maiden Hurdle at Hamilton in May last year before winning over the fences at Sale at Casterton. He was given a soft trial around the Warrnambool steeplechase course last week and jumped very impressively and looked right at home on what can be a slightly tricky course for some. He gets the services of jockey Steven Pateman here and no-one knows this course better than him.

Another Andrew Bobbin runner in the 5 Duke Of Bedford will be the hardest to beat. He has also looked very impressive in two recent Warrnambool steeplechase trials and as a winner already of two races over the bigger fences he looks like he still has plenty of scope for improvement. 2 Leaderboard, a winner around this course, will also be very hard to beat. This is a good race, and I’ve had to leave out a couple of runners who could also be right in the finish without surprising.

3 The Mighty Spar – 5 Duke Of Bedford – 2 Leaderboard

 

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