The person least concerned about Azkadellia drawing the outside gate for the Doomben 10000 is her trainer Ciaron Maher.
The Group One sprint fell away to 10 runners when final acceptances were taken on Wednesday with Azkadellia receiving the widest barrier.
But Maher said the alley wouldn’t make any difference to Azkadellia because of her racing style.
“She would end up in the same position anyway,” he said.
“She doesn’t begin brilliantly but gradually builds up momentum. There is plenty of pace in the field and that should suit her.”
Maher was debating whether to run Azkadellia in the Doomben 10000 on Saturday as he was worried about a weight penalty for the $1.5 million Group One Stradbroke Handicap on June 11.
“It looks like she will get an extra kilo if she wins which isn’t too bad,” Maher said.
The mare trialled brilliantly at Eagle Farm last week, but Maher still considered she needed another hit-out before the Stradbroke.
“The Stradbroke has always been her prime target and it was a matter of finding another race for her,” he said.
Maher, who won last year’s Stradbroke with Srikandi, would also like some rain for Azkadellia but he is unlikely get it.
“She is very good on dry tracks and raced well in the spring on hard tracks,” Maher said.
“But she is a swimmer in the wet.”
Azkadellia has not missed a place in six starts on rain-affected tracks.
Maher can take comfort from the recent history of the Doomben 10000 when rating Azkadellia’s chances.
It was rare for mares to win the 10000 with only four of them successful in the first 77 years of the race.
But in the past six years, three editions have been won by fillies and mares – Hot Danish (2010), Beaded (2011) and Sea Siren (2012).
To further boost Maher’s confidence, since it switched to a weight-for-age race in 1977 the Doomben 10000 has been the best of the Brisbane winter carnival feature races for favourites.
In the past 10 years it has been won by five outright favourites and two second favourites.
Article from JustHorseRacing.com.au
