Form out of the Doomben 10,000 could prove decisive as an interesting field of sprinters line-up in the Group 1 Darley Kingsford Smith Cup (Race 7) at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
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Formerly the BTC Cup, the race has been pushed back a fortnight and will be run over 1300m, with several runners hoping to earn a spot in the field for the Stradbroke Handicap in a fortnight’s time.
Favourite Black Heart Bart is on the seven-day back-up after a somewhat disappointing performance in the Darley Goodwood last weekend, where he could only finish seventh behind Vega Magic.
The horse had every opportunity but, sparing his charge from the detractors, trainer Darren Weir instead chose to criticise the ride of Brad Rawiller and his decision to race him so close.
With the blinkers back on, Bart seems better suited at WFA level here but the short turnaround, travel logistics and an underwhelming record in soft-to-heavy going are all reasons to think he may struggle.
Surprisingly, we found it hard to attract money for Bart last week and with some well-credentialed horses engaged here, we suspect that punters might be a little gun-shy once again.
Indeed, having been hammered by the wins of Kenedna in the Roses and Sense of Occasion in the Doomben Cup, our Brisbane traders are on the back foot heading into the biggest three weeks of the carnival and desperately need some results to go their way to prevent a very bleak winter.
Thus, while they couldn’t quite reel in deserved winner Redzel, we really liked the runs of both Counterattack and Derryn in the Doomben 10,000 and will be banking on them to do us a favour here.
With a career at stud beckoning, Counterattack will once again be partnered by Kiwi Opie Bosson as he aims to breakthrough for an overdue Group 1 triumph.
The extra 100m looks ideal and a resume that has seen him placed at all seven starts in soft or heavy going warrants respect as he looks to shed the ‘perennial bridesmaid’ tag.
One of only two three-year-olds in the field, Derryn is a horse we have had a real opinion of from day one and his run prior to the Doomben 10,000 saw him take out the Arrowfield Sprint in impressive fashion.
While trainer David Hayes concedes the horse will mature even further at his next preparation, we’re ‘in the now’ and have kept him firmly onside in our market to date.
A recent acquisition for the Kris Lees’ stable following the retirement of Greg Bennett, Clearly Innocent has built up a formidable record and enters this off the back of a thumping win in the Luskin Star Stakes at Scone.
Settling midfield along the rails, the horse showed tremendous acceleration to reel in pacesetter Sweet Serendipity and maintain his unbeaten record on home turf.
However, with this race set to mark the gelding’s first outing at Group 1 level, Lees conceded the calibre of opposition here is much stronger and we suspect he’ll be exposed a tad at WFA level.
Of the others, Bjorn Baker will be represented by both Music Magnate and Egyptian Symbol, the former returning to the scene of his Victory Stakes win last month.
Our traders aren’t taking any real chances with the horse despite a failure in the 10,000, where he copped interference and was eased out of the race by Jeff Lloyd feeling uncomfortable on the track.
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TIPS:
- Black Heart Bart
- Counterattack
- Derryn
- Clearly Innocent
