Two South Australian’s a Big Hope in Group 1 Australian Cup

It will be a big night on Saturday for connections of two of South Australia’s fastest chasers who are set to line up in the final of the Group 1 Australian Cup, one of the biggest feature races on the national calendar which carries a first prize of $300,000.

Captain Larry will have a big support team behind him when he exits box one for the final, after a powerful victory in his heat which saw him overturn one of the countries fastest chasers in Wow She’s Fast.

Having done the majority of his career in South Australia under the care of Mount Gambier trainer Dave Peckham, he was sent to Victoria to be trained by Brendan Pursell and to chase some richer races

His ability was on show early days as he set some scorching times here around the South Australian circuits, which include a 25.37 effort at Murray Bridge, a 30.59 personal best at Angle Park and numerous 29.40 runs at Mount Gambier.

The red and brindle dog who turns three years old next week is owned by ‘The Nineofus’ syndicate, who is a fantastic group of mates that are all South Australian based. If Captain Larry was to win on Saturday then it will most certainly be a big celebration.

His heat win was brilliant as he overcame box four before going on to stop the clock in 29.88, defeating Revolution by just over a length. It was a win that came as a bit of surprise to Dave Peckham given the caliber of dogs engaged in the heat.

“Going into it when I saw he drew Wow She’s Fast, I thought oh well that’s one dog we didn’t want to draw, well atleast one of a few!” said Peckham

“I knew he was getting to the line well in a few of his runs and he was liking The Meadows, like he put in a couple of good runs and won in a PB 29.78 when he first won at The Meadows, so we knew he had a bit of a motor and a chance to do it, just whether he was going to be able to take the step up in class. We certainly realised he was in some class when he drew Wow She’s Fast and Revolution.”

“We were certainly surprised to see him come out and win it, we were pretty excited. I didn’t expect it and I think most of the boys were much the same.”

It has been quite a career thus far from Captain Larry and it all started when Ross who is part of the ownership group, saw him online as a sapling and bought him. With the expectations not so high when he came to Peckham, it turned out to be quite a buy!

“We knew Larry was something in pre training, leading up to the debut he trialled nearly free for all time in his first 400m run. We pulled off a bit of a plunge on debut  when he won by 10 lengths in 23.02. After his third start he sustained a vertebrae back injury which saw him off the track for 5 months and he had to race heavier after that to protect his vertebrae.” said Peckham

“It was probably because he put down some good times (being sent to Victoria), like the 25.37 at Murray Bridge and he was running 29.40s at Mount Gambier. We knew he could run a bit and I suppose we thought we would give him a bit of a chance at the bigger prize money interstate.”

“Obviously we will be hoping for a good beginning (in the final) and for him to stay on the rail and get a clear run. I haven’t done a lot of homework on the field yet but I know the two is quick early. It’s run 5.04 or 5.06 to the post whereas Larry is about 5.16 so he could be in a bit of strife early, but we just have to hope for a clear run. If he can position up close up the back, then we know he runs home alright.”

“We’re heading over Saturday and meeting at the cabins where we are staying then we will find our way to the track. We will be there on the night, their will be 8 of us there!”

“It’s good to be there with a fellow South Australian and we wish them luck with Victa Damian.”

The other South Australian who has made the final is the South Australian trained and owned Victa Damian, who was quite eye-catching in his 29.70 heat victory.

This is his second successive Group 1 final, after winning the National Derby in brilliant fashion last month. Going into his heat he was a red hot favourite for the race and one of the all in favourites for The Australian Cup. He certainly lived up to that when he dealt with early trouble to blitz them with pace and strength on his way to his 5 length romp.

The box draw for Victa Damian has not been kind, as he has drawn box seven with the quickest qualifier for the race in Baby Jaycee, drawn outside of him and the speedy Fernando Mick drawn in box six.

The heat win was arguably a career best for Victa Damian and it was one that certainly pleased his trainer Lisa Rasmussen.

“I loved it! (the heat win), I was very happy, he did jump but the two kind of hit him straight away so it didn’t give him an opportunity to put my pace into it. He still had enough natural ability to go up behind them and the good part about it was that he moved himself out onto the track put the afterburners on down the back straight.” said Rasmussen

“Good! (the week with him), he had a gallop up the straight this morning (Wednesday) and apart from that it’s just a normal week and we try to treat everything as normally as we possibly can.”

“Still nervous, very nervous, not that the Derby wasn’t good, but it was age restricted. This is the bigtime open race type thing, even though the top three seeds didn’t make it through, he’s still there.”

“I find it amazing how he’s gone from $4 preheats to $7 in the final field, just on box draw.”

“I still give him a really good chance, I think the key to the race will be if the eight steps and cuts him off, if that happens then he will really need to put his afterburners on straight away. If he can stay not with Fernando Mick because he’s really fast, but right behind him, then Fernando Mick cuts to the rail on the corner, so we’re hoping he could run the cover for him. ”

“What I'm worried about is the jam up on the first corner with all the speed and I am just hoping he doesn’t get caught in the back wash.”

Following the Australian Cup final and all things being well with Victa Damian, he will be set for a busy March when he flies over to Perth for a trial at Cannington on Perth Cup night before returning for a crack at the Golden Easter Egg, before going back to Perth to represent Ladbrokes in the inaugural ‘Sandgroper’ race.