Randwick Betting Tips for January 3, 2026 – Steel Strike Best Bet

With a Soft 5 surface and competitive fields across the board, identifying horses ready to peak is crucial for profitable betting.

Steel Strike has been knocking on the door without much luck in his two runs this time in and shapes as a serious player in Race 4. The Waterhouse/Bott galloper was slow out of the blocks when resuming over the 1200m at Warwick Farm before working up to sit outside the leader on a hot tempo, sticking on to fill the exacta behind Hellbent On You. The runner-up out of that has since gone on to win at Randwick. At his most recent run he was posted wide no cover but ketp coming to again land 3rd at Warwick Farm, over the 1400m. A firmer in the early betting, the son of Exceed And Excel should be ready to peak third up and draws much better than his last two in barrier 5. Adam Hyeronimus rides and will look to box seat. He strikes at 22% for the stable, providing a 17% profit on turnover. 

The key chances in this race appear to be the promising pair of Cinsault and Unleeshing. Giving the nod to the latter after a solid first up effort to place 3rd at Warwick Farm off a one-year break. The Bjorn Baker-trained filly was back on a slow tempo in a small field and struggled for clear air before getting out and producing the fastest last 200m. At her last preparation, she improved 11 lengths on benchmark figures to fill the exacta behind Private Harry, who went on to take out the Group 1 Galaxy (1100m) a couple of starts later. The daughter of Dundeel enjoys a 3kg pull in the weights over Cinsault and can play the stalking role from barrier 3 with Winona Costin to ride. 

Massira can just about make it back to back wins when he steps out in Race 9. The five-year-old stepped out over the 1000m here a few weeks ago and was posted wide but kept coming to knock over Chemtrail, while there was a solid gap back to the 3rd horse. The former Godolphin galloper is now in the hands of Matthew Dale and has finished top two in six of his nine runs since switching. He went a very healthy nine lengths faster than standard benchmark last time, which is the best last start figure of any runner. He held his rating when third up at his last prep and stepping from the 1000m to the 1100m, while he draws to enjoy the gun run from barrier 2.