Wangaratta Gift

This is great! Wangaratta back to it's former glory. Well done to the committee for turning this meeting around. I had worried about Wangaratta disappearing for a while but with history like this it deserves its standing as one of the prize gifts to win. I am not sure who will win this one yet, I have a good idea about a home town win for another race though.

James Vine

Cam Dunbar

Harrison Kerr

Joshua Tiu

Ryan Clohessy

Mark Hignett

Winner

James Vine

final:
bee
riali
macgibbon
moloney
dunbar
whittaker

winner: dunbar

The open Gift is a real sight at Wangaratta under lights. Last year it was one of the closest finals you could see. I like the looks of a potential final here and if the top poll getters all final it will be a great race.

Nick MacGibbon 6.5m 8% - MacGibbon has turned up in shape this season. He has been someone that the older trainers have been watching for a while. I believe he missed most of the season last year due to illness. He made the semi finals yesterday but did not final so must not be in the form I thought he was in. If he does not go for a big gift, does he have enough to take a .5m bonus later in the season at somewhere like Bendigo and have a crack at a final at Stawell? Or does he take a big gift and worry about Stawell another day. Who knows. I would have had him in a final but missing it at Maribyrnong has him for me a semi at best.

Cam Dunbar 8.5m 20% - Dunbar has been called 'Mr Consistency' for a number of years. I am not sure how he does it year in year out. He never looks out of shape and is always competitive. He should be right amongst this final field and right up the pointy end. Has made finals lately so cannot be discounted. I never liked lining up against him previously and don't like any of my group against him now. One to watch.

Kris Kardakovski 10.25m / Craig Mair 10.25m 12% - Kardakovski is another athlete that has improved a lot this season. I had been thinking that Paull would be one to watch from the Fiedler stable but Kardakovski has taken that at the moment. Has made some good finals and appears to by a chance of a win. How much does he have left? Finals chance. Mair is jogging along nicely. When he really lets go those little legs can still go alright. I think he will make a couple of finals in the gift this year but not win one. Watch for later in the year.

Carrick Gill-Vallance 12.25m / Darren Whittaker 12.25m 10% - The Hyphen came back with a bang at St Albans winning the 300m off what proved to be a good mark. Compare that with his gift mark and I think you will find that the votes here are for Whittaker. Whittaker makes all of the top gift finals and seems to have been going for a classic gift for years. His mark has virtually not moved in years. He runs sparingly at smaller meets or skips the gift to run another race. I for one would love to see him crack a classic. Will final but may not get the job done this week. With Ballarat and Stonnington coming up expect him to make both finals and go very close at the last one.

A late final but this will be one to watch.