Gawler Cup Champ ready to roll in SA Sprint Championships
Punters will be in for a treat on Thursday night at Angle Park as we have three heats of the South Australian Sprint Championships to take place on a red hot card. Some really in form chasers will be vying for a spot in the final next week, with the likes of Panorama, Came And Went, Mallee Magic, Springvale Max, Springvale Roxy and Whiskey Soda all set to strut their stuff.
In the first of the three heats, we will see the return of the Gawler Cup champ in Victa Reid, who had his last start at the back end of November. Prior to that he had been in excellent form and will no doubt be a big player in the heat on Thursday. Trainer Lisa Rasmussen is not concerned with the short break and expects him to run well from box four (race five).
“He had an issue with his stomach” said Lisa
“He’s had two trials and we’re very happy with both of them.”
“He’s got a reasonable chance because he’s fresh as a daisy, he’s ready to go. Fitness wise he should be fine.”
Punters were gobsmacked last week in the Kate’s A Scandal Xmas sprint when red hot favourite Mallee Magic was sensationally run down after finding an early lead. After coming through the run okay, he will go around in heat three (race seven, number eight) but has to deal with some stiff competition with the flying Came And Went drawn in box three and Springvale Max drawn in the four. The Brindle rocket was clearly not at his best last week but Lisa is confident he will be better this week and believes she knows what happened last week.
“He’s got a bit of a calf issue and I think he tightened up because he felt that. We’ve been working on it and we will make sure he’s 100% before he goes around. You could see when he was going around the first corner and then into the back straight, he just wasn’t striding out as good as he should have been. It’s not torn or anything, he’s just feeling it.” said Lisa
“I can’t figure out how come that heat is so much harder than the other two, it’s just ridiculous!”
“Clearly Came And Went (is the one to beat) if he starts, he’s in really good form.”
Trainer Tim Richards has a few good hopes on Thursday night thanks to a favourable set of box draws for his four chasers engaged. Oh Louise (race two, number one) has certainly shown some talent so far in her career and she won’t get a better chance for a city win on Thursday when she lines up in a field which lacks early speed. The Blue Fawn bitch generally races wide in her races but if she is able to show some early speed and find the front, then she would take some beating.
“She’s struggling for early pace, she seems to be able to muster up on the way home and she was motoring them all down actually (on Monday).” said Tim
“She hasn’t had box one for a while, so it will be interesting. If she runs a place I will be happy.”
Coorong Cam (race eight, number three) is another that has come up with a suitable draw, with the Blue Brindle dog desperate to get to the rails. After putting in an improved effort on Monday night, Tim will be hoping that he can bounce out of the short turnaround and hopefully find the lead on Thursday.
“I took him down to Mount Gambier and he ran a 29.65 in a grade 6. I was hoping he would improve on that with a bit more strength but he just hasn’t, it’s the last 50 metres that is costing him. I’ve put a lot more work into him in the last month and he hasn’t really gotten any better, so it doesn’t really matter what I do with him.” said Tim
“I probably should have dropped him back to the 342m trip a while ago just to see how it went. He’s tough and he will just barge through, he’s mad as a cut snake.”
“I was hoping for bigger and better things but I think Cameron and Yyvonne (Butcher) have accepted that he’s not that strong.”
“It’s going to help him ten folds (box three), he’s losing two lengths smashing across to the fence. I don’t punt on my dogs so it doesn’t really worry me but if there is no pace below then he can get to the fence a little bit quicker and maybe not use as many petrol tickets so he can hopefully run it out.”
In terms of the best hope for Tim, he lent the way to his grand campaigner in Two Hands George (race one, number two), but is looking forward to seeing Time After Time (race nine, number one), who is drawn to get an airport to work with.
“Don’t write off old Two Hands George, but it’s not his distance, I can’t get a 600m race with him. I don’t think 530m is really suited for him but he's showing a bit of form over it and I don’t think there is much in the race, so I would say he should win that but that’s dog racing.” said Tim
“The one I am really interested to see how she goes is Time After Time, she had box one and ran straight into the rail on Monday night.”
“She’s been out of the 500s before and she has some early toe, I think she can head them.”
Whiskey Soda has been simply brilliant in her last couple of starts and after toppling Mallee Magic last week, she will get another red hot challenge when she lines up (race five, number three) in the first heat of the Sprint Championships. Trainer Steven Coates puts the improved runs down to some matury from the August 20’ whelping. Her strength has been a real feature lately, but in what appears a heat that lacks early speed, she will be looking to land closer in the run so that she can capitalise on what is a good draw.
“Yeah well she’s maturing so she’s starting to hit her straps now, she’s getting better.” said Steven
“I didn’t think she would (run Mallee Magic down) but if he was at his best then she wouldn’t have.”
“I know how strong she is, she’s just a bulldog and will chase her ass off.”
“She’s got a good chance, if she gets to the rail early then she will be flying home.”
After this series, Steven will keep looking for suitable races for the Blue Fawn bitch, with some consideration into taking her interstate.
“Not at this stage (planned her next race), I've been asked to take her interstate but I don't know whether I will or not, at this stage I will just find the right races for her. I think she’s better suited over 600m.”
Best Bet: Chair Man (Race 3, Number 4)
Value Bet: Panorama (Race 6, Number 6)