up, especially since recovering from a near-crash halfway down

Scott Heinrich runs the rule over the weekends racing and brings you all the best bets with UBET.Winterbottom StakesWestern Australias premier open-class sprint, The Winterbottom Stakes, is a race in two according to betting. In the orange-and-green corner we have the 2014 Darley Classic winner Terravista: in the red-and-yellow corner, the reigning Darley champ Malaguerra.Im with one of those runners, however Im not convinced the chances stop there. Lets cover the two favourites first, though.Malaguerra is my selection to win the race, mostly because I cant find reason enough not to tip him.For starters he is a top-class racehorse, as we saw at Flemington, but everything else is in his favour: the right trip (six from seven at 1200m), firm track, and Ben Melham should be able to get a nice sit just behind a good speed from gate one. If he gets an opening in the Ascot straight, he should be too good.Terravista was very good first-up off a lengthy break when finding only Redzel too sharp during the Melbourne Cup carnival. Hell strip fitter and is an obvious danger, but at the price Id prefer to be with the younger horse who may still have some upside.The locals did well last week in the Railway Stakes but these local sprinters look a rung or two below the standard set by the interstaters, and two other visitors of note are Takedown and Sheidel.Takedown is very interesting dropping back to what is certainly his best trip. He was good over further at Flemington and is another who has conditions to suit on Saturday. Might need luck from stall eight - that said, the past four winners of the Winterbottom have come from barriers 8-10 - but looks well worth an each-way ticket.Former WA mare Sheidel - who is nine from 10 at Ascot! - ran very well for fifth when leading them up in the Darley. She doesnt have to lead here and is a definite danger at a price under another fine Perth export, Damien Oliver.Recommended bet: Malaguerra to win @ $3.30 with UBET but include Takedown and Sheidel in all exotics.Best BetRosehill Race 9, No.6 Firsthand @ $4 with UBETThis four-year-old is building a very tidy record with three wins from just four starts.Lowered the colours of the smart Prince Of Brooklyn at just his second start prior to a spell, and last start beat another handy galloper in Sugar Bay Leonard when racing second-up.Crucially has race fitness on his side on Saturday in a field comprising six first-up horses. Drawn to get a sweet run on, or just behind, the pace and appeals as a very strong hope.Over the oddsMoonee Valley Race 6, No.2 Beluga Blue @ $7.50 with UBETA stakes-class mare who has returned to racing in excellent fashion, having won two from two in Adelaide since resuming from a spell.Beaten just three lengths in a Group I four starts back - and was then just behind the classy Chabaud in a Group III - yet here she is in a Benchmark 84 just 2.5kg above the minimum after Ben Allens claim. And is a mare in form!Looks massive overs and will be hard to hold out.Lay of the dayMoonee Valley Race 1, No.1 Invincibella @ $2.10 with UBETUndoubtedly the class runner but one or two question marks over this one.Is having her first run at Moonee Valley and first run over the mile - and she must also hump top weight in a small field where each of her rivals have won at either their most recent start or two runs back.Can win but shouldnt be entertained at such a short price.Under the oddsMoonee Valley Race 7, No.8 Little White Cloud @ $5 with UBETOne remarkable racehorse - and one remarkable training effort to get this comeback galloper to win at Flemington in his first start for three-and-a-half years.Back in 2013, Little White Cloud was a Group-class three-year-old, running second to the topliner Trading Leather before competing in the Irish Derby.Now seven - and with just six career starts to his name - the gelding finds himself in Australia, and is being asked to show the same zip second-up as he did three weeks ago; if the bounce factor means anything, it will mean something for this galloper.Even if he has come through his first-up exertions jumping, Little White Cloud is worse off at the weights against several rivals - including Hipparchus, who is 2.5kg better off for a 1.5L defeat - meaning improvement is probably required if he is to make it two from two in this country.Multi of the weekendMoonee Valley Race 3, No.1 Estaminet - PLACE @ $1.52Moonee Valley Race 6, No.2 Beluga Blue - PLACE @ $2.65Moonee Valley Race 7, No.9 Hipparchus - PLACE @ $2.40Rosehill Race 9, No.6 Firsthand - PLACE @ $1.75Multi odds: $16.92 with UBET SOELDEN, Austria -- Alexis Pinturault carried his outstanding giant slalom form from last year into the new World Cup campaign, dominating the season-opener on Sunday to leave his rivals in awe.Having finished runner-up to Marcel Hirscher in the discipline standings for the past two years, the Frenchman won both runs on the Rettenbach glacier to immediately position himself as the main contender for the title.Its all completely new when you start a new season. Everything youve done before is over, said Pinturault after his commanding victory and his seventh straight podium in GS.Pinturault finished in a two-run time of 2 minutes, 14.01 seconds to lead defending overall champion Hirscher by 0.70. Felix Neureuther of Germany was 1.37 behind in third while Zan Kranjec of Slovenia took fourth for his first career top-10 result.Olympic and world GS champion Ted Ligety improved from 14th position after the opening run to fifth, 1.65 seconds off the lead. The American competed in his first race since tearing the ACL in his right knee nine months ago.Only three of the last 37 World Cup giant slaloms have not been won by Pinturault, Hirscher or Ligety.Pinturault built on his first-run lead to take his 16th career win and seventh in GS, matching the French record set by great Jean-Claude Killy in 1967-68.Thats not really my goal, Pinturault said of chasing records. Jean-Claude is one of the biggest French skiers of all time but there are so many other great skiers. I am just thinking about taking risks and skiing fast.Pinturault was clean in both runs and wasnt hampered by changing conditions. After a sun-soaked opening run, partly cloudy conditions dominated during the final run.One thing is really easy in ski racing, he said. There is no strategy. You always have to push and go faster.Pinturault and Hirscher each won four GS races lastt season, while the Austrian captured the season title in the discipline.ddddddddddddhe Frenchmans convincing performance made him the favorite for the GS title this time, maybe even for the overall title, Hirscher said.If you watch at last years season more in detail, you will see that Alexis in 2016 was dominating. He was flying through the gates, the Austrian said. He is maybe the favorite for the overall. He can ski in all events so for me he is the man to beat.Hirscher, who hinted he wasnt satisfied with his own form in training, said he was super happy with finishing runner-up, especially since recovering from a near-crash halfway down his second run.Third-placed Neureuther also said Pinturault skied in a league of his own.I had two solid runs and did not make too many mistakes but Alexis and Marcel were out of reach today, the German said.After a rather conservative opening run, Ligety showed flashes of his usual strength and used his trademark fast transition from the steep pitch onto the flat finish section to post the third-best time in the final run.Coming fifth made him not euphoric but Ligety said he was definitely happy with fifth place to start it off with coming back from the knee injury that hampered his preparation in the offseason.My body feels good, I dont have any pain in my knee, said Ligety, who won here last year for a record fourth time and has never finished outside the top 10 in 10 starts.Ligety will skip the next race -- a slalom in Levi, Finland, in three weeks -- and fully concentrate on the next GS in Beaver Creek, Colorado, during the first weekend of December.Now I can get a month of miles and high intensity, he said. Hopefully I can pump it up a little bit more then. ' ' '