Weblec Marquise Chasing Country Cup Success
Weblec Marquise Chasing Country Cup Success
The biggest night of the year at Angle Park awaits on Friday night, with a terrific Adelaide Cup field assembled, arguably the strongest in many years. An all interstate contingent will line up in the race, with the lone South Australian in Nangar Express hoping to secure a run off the reserve bench.
With the Group 1 final attracting significant public interest due to the strength of the race, it promises to be one of the great editions of the race and a real highlight of the night. Away from the Cup race, there is a strong support card on the night, with a host of locally trained chasers ready to show their best in front of an expected big crowd.
The Country Cup is always a highlight of cup night and it is a race which allows trainers from all over the state to come together and compete. One trainer who will be hoping to continue the strong run that his kennel has been having is Damien Smith, who brings the promising Weblec Marquise into the race, with the fawn bitch hoping to continue her stellar run of form, having won six of her last eight starts, which includes her last four.
Weblec Marquise comes through the Murray Bridge part of the series, where she won her heat with a pacey, but strong effort. From box four, she jumped well and pushed hard to the lead. After setting up a small lead midrace, she never let them get close, holding that margin the entire way home and winning in a handy 30.24, an effort which pleased Smith given her lack of experience at the track.
“It was pretty good, we weren't sure if she would run the 530m distance out to be honest, so I was pretty happy really because the first splits weren't that good, in hindsight she probably ran it out alright.” said Smith
With a three-week gap between the Murray Bridge final and the Country Cup final, Smith has done what he can to keep Weblec Marquise up to the mark, as she attempts to take out the biggest race of her career to date.
“It’s not an ideal preparation, it's been two and a half weeks (between races). We were nearly going to race her in between but we’ve had a few little niggly things to get through. We’ve given her a couple of trials.” said Smith
Box eight is never easy at Angle Park and it’s the task that awaits Weblec Marquise, with the daughter of Weblec Diamond drawing deep in the strong field. She will be relying on her speed to get her near the front early, before hoping she is strong enough to defy the rest.
“She’s probably alright out there, but there's a bit of pace in it. You would rather box one obviously, but I don’t mind her in the eight, but she has to come out and be on her best behaviour. She can run some decent splits, but it's just those first five meters, if you can time it with the lids and get out with them then you’re half a chance.” said Smith
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Another feature held on each Adelaide Cup night is the Premier’s Cup, which is run over the 730m distance and is worth $10,000 to the winner this year.
A prestigious race on the calendar which always attracts a strong field, this year is no different, which some of the states best distance chasers set to line up.
Gavin Harris is no stranger to training a quality distance chaser and he will have the highly promising Zinfandel Trace running in the race. It will be the second major race that she has competed in, having of course represented South Australia earlier in the year in the National Distance Championships.
Her last three starts, which have followed a short spell from the distance final, have all been strong efforts, despite racing without much luck. Her most recent start was on Monday night, where she was very unlucky, running a close second in a quick 30.59.
“She was having two runs a week and we were trying to build her up so she can run the 730m out.” said Harris
“She ran Monday night and showed a bit of inexperience and ran up the backsides of dogs and things and she got beaten by a neck, but she still ran 30.59 which wasn’t too bad.”
Zinfandel Trace will exit box four in the race on Friday, with the black bitch likely to be searching for a clear passage during the race. Harris has been pleased with her lead up into the race and will be hoping that the daughter of Zinfandel Zara gets the right run and a bit of luck.
“She’s there and hopefully she gets a clean run and then we can see how she goes. She trialled Wednesday last week and went 30.29 over 530m, the track was good that night, but still it was a good trial.” said Harris
Following the run on Thursday, Harris will be looking ahead to the Brian Johnstone series, where he will then be able to map out a clearer path for the highly promising chaser.
“Hopefully she can stay sound and I can put her in the Brian Johnstone in November, there's three weeks of that series. After that I will assess if she’s a stayer or a sprinter or what.” said Harris
A magnificent night of racing is set to get underway at 6:38pm, with the Adelaide Cup set to go at 9:02pm.