Stuppos Trio Looking To Capture Memorable Victory
Stuppos Trio Looking To Capture Memorable Victory
On a strong 12 race card, a terrific field will line up on Thursday night at Angle Park for the Kings and Queens final over the 530m distance. Worth $5,000 to the winner, it promises to be a hotly contested race following two strong heats last week.
Both heats were taken out by the mother/son training team of Manuel and Debbie Stuppos with Lenny’s Honey putting in a slick display of early speed to win her heat in a thriller winning by a length in 30.59, before the talented Nowhere Man ran a brilliant 30.37 to win his heat comprehensively.
On an exciting night for the Stuppos pair, they will rug up three runners in the final, all of which have strong claims as they search for feature race success.
The first of the trio will be Huntsman, who qualifies after running third in his heat behind Nowhere Man. From box four in his heat, he came out on the back foot and had little early luck, but mustered hard and worked into third spot, where he stayed for the entire race. It was a good effort and he ran 30.67 in the process and his chances in the final have been given a significant boost after drawing box one.
“Well, he ran better last week and almost ran down Pet Detective,” trainer Manuel Stuppos said.
“He won the week before and then he’s gone close to running second last week but in faster time. He’s still putting it all together. He definitely tries a lot harder in a field than he does on a trial morning.
Hunstman, who was originally from the South-East and is owned by Robert Chuck has six wins and eight placings from 15 starts, but Stuppos said the dog was an enigma at box rise.
“You just don’t know with him. He’s gone 5.17 early, so he could lead it, but he could also bomb the start.”
“If he jumps it (box one) will be great, but if he doesn’t then I think all the pace in the race will come from the inside four boxes. It will just be about who nails the jump early.
Lenny’s Honey will be the second of the three that the Stuppos team have lining up and the fawn bitch will be looking to continue her ripping run of form. In her last nine starts, she has landed six victories, with all but one of them at Angle Park and she has shown that she can handle the middle distance, having won over the trip three starts ago.
Last week, she flew out of the boxes and ran a flying 5.17 first split, which saw her lead comfortably and whilst a couple of stronger dogs behind her had the chance to run her down, they simply couldn’t, as she held on in a slick 30.59. She has come up with box four in the final and Stuppos will be hoping she can repeat that early first split.
“I thought she was going to be way more suited to the 530m distance instead of the ‘600’ but it was just about picking up her grades,” Stuppos said.
“I don’t know if she jumps all that well, but she just musters really well. I think she’s pretty well drawn in box four, but again it will just be the start as she will have to cross the ones inside her.
“Hopefully with the ones on the outside having a little less pace, then she should be able to hold a straight line which she normally does and then she can hit the front and cut down into the bend. That would be the dream start, I do like her chances.
“She would have to be in front though, I don’t want to see her have to run a dog down. She’s the most consistent of the three we have, she’s definitely the most professional.”
The last of the three will be Nowhere Man, who was simply brilliant last week when producing a clear career best performance. From box six, he left the boxes quickly and fired straight to the lead. Heading out of the back turn he had a clear buffer and he managed to hold this throughout, largely thanks to running a flying 17.48 back split, which the others simply couldn’t match.
A strong finish saw him run home well and win in a terrific 30.37 and whilst he has drawn a tough box eight for the final, he will still go into it as one of the favourites.
“The ability was always there, it’s just the fact he’s blind in the offside eye and I think he struggles racing at night. He’s always had more speed than Lenny’s Honey, but he’s always got into trouble or he’s had some niggles here and there, then of course being blind in one eye means he runs a bit wide as well,” Stuppos said.
“He’s pretty well drawn out in box eight, particularly with the lack of speed in box five, six and seven, so he might get the dream run around the field.
“I think we are pretty well drawn across the park, it will just be about the start.”
In a deep final with a host of chances, a bit of luck will go a long way and Manuel will be hoping that one of his trio can get that, or atleast repeat their best early splits and find the front.
“I think in terms of the dangers, Lauren’s bitch (Yoda Lady) worries me, we would have to go a length quicker than it in the first section and if we don’t clear it then I don’t see us running it down, so that definitely worries me. The other one is Victa Chrissy, even though she is stuck between two dogs, they are slow out so she might clear them and then she might avoid the carnage.” said Stuppos
“Out of the ones we have got in, I would like to see Lenny’s Honey win because there will be a pretty big following there for her Thursday night, just because 10% of her was owned by a family member who passed away a couple weeks ago, Lenny, so it’s a bit of an omen at the moment. I thought for sure she would get run down by Victa Chrissy last week but she held on.
“Nowhere Man has the box and the ability, I think if he gets a clear run and finds the front then there's no way that the other two will catch him. I just think with the professional box manners that I’ve got in box four with Lenny’s Honey then she should win out of the three I’ve got.”
Best Bets:
Zeberiah (Race 3, Number 4)
Majestic Mclaren (Race 9, Number 2)