Springvale duo hope to spring an upset in State final
A cracking night of racing awaits at Angle Park on Thursday with two big feature finals to be run in races six and seven on the card.
The State National Sprint Championship Final is the headline act with the winner to represent South Australia in the National final at The Meadows later this month.
Two heats were run last week with the two winners being Could Be King, who was breathtaking on his way to a dominant 30.36 victory before Dash Of Blue proved too tough when winning in 30.56.
The National Sprint is a race which is steeped in history and it is one that many trainers target each year with the hope of earning the right to take on the best in the country. It’s an even final this year with a lot of strong chasers in the race all of which will be looking to get clear running if they are to run down the on pace types.
Gavin Harris generally has a hand to play in most feature finals in South Australia and he will have a two-pronged attack for the Sprint Final.
Springvale Maddi has come up with box one following a good second in her heat, where she showed her customary pace before sticking on valiantly late. She ran a good 30.72 before going down by two lengths to the in-form Dash Of Blue with that run pleasing Harris, although he felt that she was lacking a bit of fitness going into the run.
“No it didn’t surprise me, she was a bit underdone for the 500.” Harris said of Springvale Maddi’s heat run.
The other runner in the final for Harris is Springvale Max who has been racing in consistent form prior to his heat run last week. The heat run was his first in six weeks, after receiving a minor injury at Gawler and he should improve going into the final.
“He ran okay but after his last win at Gawler he split his webbing, so he’s had time off recovering from that but he was a bit underdone as well,” Harris said.
With Springvale Maddi in box one and Springvale Max in bow two, both should get their chance in the race but they will need to jump well and have some luck in running if they are to cause an upset.
Harris concedes they have a bit to find if they are to beat the others including Could Be King who he rates as the one to beat in the race following his heat win.
“They’re not up to the standard of the likely winners at this stage of their career, but they are competitive,” Harris said.
“It would be nice (to win) but I will just be happy if they placed to be honest. It’s probably Could Be King (being the hardest to beat), he ran pretty well last week.”
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The other big feature of the night is the State National Distance Championship Final which will be run over the 730m distance.
The winner of this race will also join the winner of the Sprint event and head over to The Meadows where they will represent the state in the National Final.
All states hold a one-off final for the Distance qualifier with South Australia having seven chasers engaged this week.
Zipping Neutron has been completely dominant in recent times after relocating to South Australia and he will go into the final as a raging hot favourite.
Last week, Zipping Neutron produced his best run yet in the state when he ran a flying 42.65 in the Free For All event over the 730m distance and won with ease. His recent form has been very pleasing for his trainer Tim Aloisi, who is no stranger to having a good dog in his kennel.
“I’m happy with how the dog is going,” Aloisi said on Zipping Neutron’s recent form.
“To win nine straight and to break a track record shows you how much ability the dog has. We are very proud of him.”
“I was very happy with last week's run. All you can ask is they continue to improve and that’s what he did running 42.65. I honestly believe he’s still got a little more up his sleeve but time will tell.”
Zipping Neutron has drawn box two in the final on Thursday night which is a change from the recent run of wide boxes that he has drawn. Whilst the draw might be considered a challenge to some, Aloisi holds no fears about it and is confident that his class will see him handle it and hopefully get the job done.
“I’m very happy with the box draw. He’s jumping a lot better in SA, so to draw box 2 and have all the pace on his outside doesn’t worry me at all,” Aloisi said.
“I think he potentially can lead and if he or lobs top 3, he should go very close. State finals are always hard to win, but he will give it his best shot.”
An awesome night of racing gets underway at 6:37pm this Thursday night.
Best Bet: Zipping Mahalia (Race 3, Number 1)
Value Bet: Blazin’ Lass (Race 10, Number 5)