As a punter Serenissima has not been my type of horse as she has always shown ability but has not produced winning performances at the next level. She won her first two races and then was spelled for 11 weeks. At her first up run she was blocked for a run to be beaten 0.7 Len at Listed level behind Bhutane Dane and Ahdashim and it was going to be a forgone conclusion several future races were there for her taking. After another two runs (one an excellent 2L defeat by Ortensia) she was spelled to

As a punter Serenissima has not been my type of horse as she has always shown ability but has not produced winning performances at the next level. She won her first two races and then was spelled for 11 weeks. At her first up run she was blocked for a run to be beaten 0.7 Len at Listed level behind Bhutane Dane and Ahdashim and it was going to be a forgone conclusion several future races were there for her taking. After another two runs (one an excellent 2L defeat by Ortensia) she was spelled to again return for a first up win in an R86 event. Another three runs and again she was spelled after another top run: this time on Melbourne Cup day when beaten by Very Discreet and Seeking Attention.

This campaign she did not fire first up, nor second up or even third up and I wondered on Thursday night, "is she one of these mares that just does not fire after showing so much promise". After she won on Saturday I popped back to the form guide just to check if I had missed anything I should have noted. No, I was quite happy to agree with my self: pre race I was right however here I sit wondering what will I do next time she runs, formwise. Certainly, if the track is good she will be high in my thoughts as she now boasts 4 wins and 1 second under those conditions however how fickle are my thoughts going to be if the track next start is dead or worse. Her bland record now shows 7 runs under dead to heavy track conditions for one win (Saturday) and two thirds.

As I said in my first sentence: as a punter Serenissima is not my type of horse. I have often thought horses like her, that show terrific potential, might best be backed every start to win $x per start. You know she is going to win a race but you are never sure which race it will be. At least by target betting her for a sensible amount per start you will eventually catch her when she wins a race as she did on Saturday at 8/1.