Victa Invasion at Wentworth Park
South Australia will have some fantastic representation this Friday night at Wentworth Park in New South Wales when seven locally trained chasers line up in an attempt to make a Group 1 final the following week. Five heats of the National Derby and four heats of the National Futurity will be run, with both series drawing the best chasers from around the country.
The local training duo of Tony and Lisa Rasmussen will be taking over some of their most promising young chasers, which includes one of the hottest dogs in the country right now, that being Victa Damian. Tony will be making the 12-hour drive and did so last week when taking the team for a trial at the unique track. It was a pleasing trial session with co-trainer Lisa Rasmussen happy with how all of the dogs went.
“Damian trialled extremely well, Alby very well and the others were good enough to win a few races that were on that day.” said Lisa
It’s not a short drive to Wentworth Park and Tony will be making the trek nice and early, to allow the dogs plenty of time to relax throughout the day.
“Tony will leave Thursday morning, driving over. Our niece who isn’t far from Wentworth Park has a unit, so he will park up there and plug in, we have the air conditioner and everything in the van.”
Lisa gave her thoughts on all their chances in the heats.
Derby
Race 1, Number 2 - Victa Tony
Trialled - 5.56 - 14.20 - 18.38 - 30.33
“He actually trialled the slowest out of all five, he’s drawn well but he won’t want to miss the start like he did when Tony took him to Melbourne! If he jumps well then he’s expected to run well, but realistically he won’t win.”
Race 2, Number 8 - Victa Alby
Trialled - 5.56 - 14.07 - 18.16 - 29.96
“Would prefer him inside but two of his five wins were from box eight, so he can handle a wide draw. He trialled well enough to possibly win the race.”
Race 5, Number 5 - Victa Damian
Trialled - 5.53 - 13.99 - 18.03 - 29.57
“Box fives are never good but all he needs is room to move in the first three or four strides and he will be off and gone. We don’t have too much pressure on him but we think he can win his heat.”
Futurity
Race 6, Number 7 - Queen Of Scotch
Trialled - 5.56 - 14.27 - 18.37 - 30.11
“She’s out where she wants to be but she’s not really strong. She hasn’t really come back to racing like she did before the fall at Angle Park.”
Race 7, Number 2 - Victa Marli
Trialled - 6.48 - 14.01 - 18.18 - 30.22
“She should lead, it’s just whether she hangs on or not. She’s another that doesn’t run a strong 500, but we are hoping she might be far enough in front.”
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Another trainer making the journey is Vadim Roz, who has been clocking up the hours on the road lately, having taken his team to Wentworth Park for the last two weeks in an attempt to prepare them for the series.
Vadim has a small kennel and this is a race he has earmarked for a little while for a couple of his most promising chasers, Machismo and Yarramundi Paul. It was only in December that Yarramundi Paul won two races at Angle Park on Thursday night in the best of nighttime.
“Pretty much after the Brian Johnstone, the Derby was the next race on the card. I thought because it was age-restricted and they were born in December, which I thought was the perfect category for them. It’s a Group 1 but they are good enough, they just needed to get used to the track. This is why I have been travelling for consecutive weeks because in Wentworth Park you need to see at least six times before your dog gets used to it and not all dogs take to it. I thought I'm not going to trial, I will just race and get them to experience race conditions at the track. I would like to get three more runs into them before the race but they’ve had two and that’s better than none.” said Vadim
Vadim has made the drives by himself which is no doubt quite taxing, but is happy with his plan to get over there and does what he feels is best for the dogs.
“I would leave the night before and travel for 6-7 hours, then pull up. This way the dogs are relaxed overnight, they can have a little sleep and then we will travel the next day through the day. The dogs have actually handled the trips quite easily, they are not stressed out. It is quite a comfortable drive for them.”
Both his chances are feeling well and are ready for the challenge that awaits them.
“Both have worked very well during the week, they are jumping out of their skin and they are ready to go again. Every time I leave the kennels they think they are going racing! They are really on their toes.”
Derby
Machismo - Race 3, Number 8
“He’s drawn box five and two box eights which is not ideal. He lacks early speed, I don’t think it’s the correct track for him because you need to be on the speed at Wentworth Park and he’s just asking beyond 500m.”
“The dog is a genuine 600-700m dog. He needs luck, if he gets any room then he has a strong finish on him. Whilst his last runs were only just even, his run homes were very good, without having much luck in the run.”
Yarramundi Paul - Race 4, Number 3
“I thought his first two runs were excellent. First look at the track he lost by half a length, he was going to pick them up and everything went wrong in the race and he ran second. For his first look it was outstanding. Second run he just got jammed up early and a got little check before the first corner, he got stuck in no man's land and then once he balanced up he actually came home in 11.70, which is a very good run home. He did miss the top three but the run was actually better, the overall time indicates that.”
“The winner of that race (last week) was Rockstar Apollo and he’s in the same heat in box one, so that’s a concern because I need to be very close to him and tuck in behind him. He (Yarramundi Paul) is as good as any dog in the race, but he’s not super quick early. He’s my best prospect obviously.”
“The box draw is kind, he’s just gotta somehow make it through that first corner, third look at the track, I expect a better performance again, but I think he’s in a very hard heat.”
The racing will start at Wentworth Park 6:38 pm South Australian time.