Indeed, the Autridge-Richards camp appear set to have a huge say in proceedings with Shocking Luck currently holding sway atop our market for what looks an extremely open Queensland Derby (Race 7).
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Moved from Eagle Farm, the race has had a slight drop in distance and will be run over 2200m.
An emphatic winner of the Rough Habit Plate mid last month, the gelding could only labour into sixth after leading them up in the Grand Prix but, like many others, might not have handled the track.
From the inside draw, our traders were expecting a far more formidable showing from him back on this course with a trip to Hong Kong on the horizon.
Like Egg Tart last weekend, Darren Weir’s Volatile Mix will be out to complete the SA-Queensland three-year-old staying double after losing out in a desperately close finish to Order Again in the Grand Prix.
With Damian Lane set to partner Mongolian Wolf, the likeable Irishman John Allen resumes his connection with the horse having partnered him to victory at Morphettville.
Hard to fault recent efforts but Weir himself expressed doubts as to whether the switch of venue and decrease in distance will suit and we’re happy to accommodate punters wanting to back him.
Mongolian Wolf, meanwhile, made a sound impression on his first Australian start with a strong win in the Frank Packer Plate before throwing in a shocker back at Caulfield.
The jury is out a little on this horse and at the prices we are looking elsewhere for challengers.
As it is, the big mover in betting has been Ciaron Maher’s Ruthven, who is a far better horse than an overall record of two wins from nine outings would suggest.
Trapped three wide for the first half of the race, Mark Zahra made a forward move down the back and the colt showed great tenacity to fight on for second in the SA Derby, a run later described by his trainer as ‘sensational’.
Available at double-figure odds prior to the draw, Ruthven’s price was slashed as a result of some sizeable bets and he represents easily the worst way in our book at present.
Of the others, Ana Royale will be hoping for a bit more luck having been badly held-up halfway down the straight in last weekend’s Oaks, where she should have finished much closer.
While Violate has been competitive at all three starts since arriving in Brisbane and could be one to consider for each-way players.
The feature race action concludes with the time-honoured Stradbroke Handicap, which will be run over 1350m with a capacity field size reduced to 16.
Clearly Innocent put to bed any suggestions that he was a ‘one-track wonder’ with a blitzing win in the DKS Cup but with so much conjecture about the performance of the track, that result might not carry as much weight as perhaps intended.
Allocated the topweight of 57kgs, connections were also handed a curveball after the bay landed a horror draw and recent history doesn’t hint too kindly at his chances.
The Straddie has proven to be a real graveyard for favourites in recent times with only Black Piranha (2009) justifying the quote over the past decade and the last five winners all at double-figure odds.
That’s enough ammunition for our traders to go after the horse and we are really challenging the big hitters to come after us on Saturday.
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TIPS:
- Shocking Luck
- Volatile Mix
- Mongolian Wolf
- Ruthven
