Locals Set To Dominate Murray Bridge Cup Heats
Six heats of the Group 3 Murray Bridge Cup will be run this Sunday and it looks set to be a locally dominated race, with the majority of the chasers involved being South Australian trained. Last year's race was a sensational edition which went the way of Weblec Ranger, which of course is owned by club president Neville Lochel.
Despite only a small interstate representation with Victorian Matthew Laningan making his way over, it will be a hotly contested series with some of our stronger chasers going around.
With six heats, it will be the six winners plus the two fastest seconds that go through to the $25,000 to the winner final next Sunday, with the night promising to be a big one.
Lewiston based Ben Rawlings will bring a strong team to the heats which include Sister Roberta, Panorama, Mr. Ticket and two chasers that are first up for the race which are Federal Outlaw and Okeechobee Road.
Federal Outlaw has drawn box one in the third heat and will be giving away a bit of experience, but has shown his ability having run good times at The Meadows and Geelong. With just 18 starts and 4 wins for his career, he will have to show his best against some more seasoned chasers, but has clearly been assisted with the box draw.
“Federal Outlaw trialled 25.79 Monday, 8.14 early, missed it a touch, I gave him a box to box the week before at Angle Park and he went 5.47 but slipped off the mat and recovered alright to run 18.02. I hope that second go he comes out better and if he gets down to 8 flat and runs 25.5 or better then I think he will be very competitive. He rails very hard so the red is perfect. He could box well in Melbourne so he’s not a slow beginner, I think he will improve a bit.” Said Rawlings
The other dog first up for Rawlings is Okeechobee Road, who has shown good ability over the one-turn tracks in New South Wales, whilst also having already won races at Wentworth Park in Sydney. He has drawn box eight in the sixth and last heat and he will need to deal with some speed to his inside.
“Okeechobee road was bought for the heats, he goes real good on the one-turn, I didn’t love his last couple at Wentworth Park, I know he won one but I thought the ‘500’ saw him out. He trialled 25.82, similar early to Federal Outlaw but looked a bit greener. He’s got an interesting heat, San Lorenzo off the red is going to want to shift up, Bernando Bowl with pace will want to get down, Victa Mikey and Paramount State out wide have pace, it makes for him (Okeechobee Road) to have clear air if he stays straight. Out of the two I would think Federal Flash is the better chance though.” said Rawlings
“I think Panorama and Federal Outlaw are the best chances, she (Panorama) grows a leg off the red, when she won, she had never seen the place and went 25.69 so I think she should find off that.”
“Sister Roberta is a chance too, her form isn’t great but she hasn’t been getting a whole lot of luck in her runs and I thought she has been going decent, so she’s probably the third best chance.”
The training duo of Lauren Harris and Ryan Tugwell set their eyes for the Murray Bridge Cup every year and again will be hoping they can make their way through to the final next week. It’s a strong contingent they will bring to the heats with a couple of those chasers bringing some strong form into the heats.
After setting an association with Mount Gambier based Jason Newman, they will have two of the ‘Paw Some’ dogs with (Sloan & Storm) engaged in the heats. Paw Some Storm will be first up for the kennel and has shown brilliant speed in her career to date. She has drawn box seven in the third heat and will be looking to use her speed to fly across to the front and hopefully hang on.
“She’s settled in alright, we only got her last week. She had a look Monday morning and went similar to what Paw Some Sloane went first look and she (Paw Some Sloane) improved off that. We’re just having a throw at the stumps really, she’s got high speed. Going off what Jason (Newman) said, I looked at her splits the other day over the 500m and the first two sectionals were pretty quick. She’s drawn well out there, I spoke to Jason last night and he said they are both drawn where they want to be. You’ve got to be in it to win it!” said Tugwell
Bundegi has had first starts in South Australia and will face her toughest test yet, when she comes out of box seven in the fifth heat, however she has arguably found one of the easier heats. After showing speed in her runs over the short trip, she will be looking to replicate that speed to get herself to the lead.
“We found a bit with her (Bundegi) during the week, so we are expecting improvement with her. If she can replicate the 4.93 first split she did over the short trip a couple runs ago then she will be leading for a very long way, I don’t think she’s overly strong but I think she’s a different bitch out in front.” said Harris
“I think Diesel Runner can go well, he’s been up in Open grade and going well, he probably deserves to make the final, he’s racing well.” said Tugwell
“San Lorenzo has always had a bit of x factor about him, he probably deserves to win a big race in his career, whether this is too early because he’s only young still. We do think his future is over the longer trip but he does love Murray Bridge, he’s had 4 looks there for 3 wins. I remember back in November when he went 25.60 and won by 10 lengths, he went 8.00 early and broke 9 seconds running home on a freshly harrowed track. I’ve always had that in the back of my mind. He’s just got to be left alone and to get some clear running. He trialled on Monday morning and ran home very strongly, by far the strongest run home of the morning, which of course you would expect, he just loves the big long straight. As long as he gets clear running he’s going to be coming late, he’s going to need to jump with them and not give them too much of a start, but just hopefully he has no bad luck.”
Racing will start at 5:02pm local time this Sunday night at Murray Bridge.