Young guns step out for Saturday's Breeders Prelude
Competitive Prelude Final Assembled On A Stellar Angle Park Card
An amazing night of racing is looming on Saturday night At Angle Park, with the National Sprint and Distance finals set to capture the attention of the nation. It will be a showcase night for the revamped Angle Park track, with many people expected to attend the evening, all from around the country.
Much has been made in the hype of both feature finals for the night and whilst they will make for some excellent racing, there is also a fantastic support card which will show off some of the high quality chasers that South Australia has.
One of the key races on the card away from the finals is the Classic Prelude final and it has drawn a deep race, with a field loaded with very capable chasers.
Two heats were run last week and they proved to be competitive. The Damien Smith trained Jabuk won the first heat in a messy race, with such a competitive charge unfolding in the run to the first turn. Despite receiving a few bumps in the early scrimmage, Jabuk rebalanced and held his spot in the lead, before ultimately proving too tough to run down and going on to win in 31.23.
Cameron Forshaw had the second heat go his way, with the highly promising Scary Eyes making the most of box one. After getting crossed early, the brindle dog balanced up in an ominous second and once they hit the halfway mark, he took over quickly and never looked like losing from that point, getting the job done in 30.66, an effort which impressed Forshaw.
“I thought his heat win was fantastic, he’s shown a bit of ability and he is strong. When he got close early I thought he was going to be a good chance.” said Forshaw.
In what may prove to be some good fortune, Scary Eyes has drawn box one in the final on Saturday night and he will be looking to repeat what he did in the heat last week.
“He’s drawn beautifully and should get some room as it seems that Dakota Rylen wants to get up the track a bit. If he gets a clear run through the first corner then I think he can go close to winning.” said Forshaw
The Kerry Stagg trained Dakota Rylen has made his way through to the Prelude final as well, following a luckless heat effort last week. From box three, he jumped well but was dragged down early and lost all momentum. After quickly rebalancing and going again, he found trouble on the turn and ran up the track, effectively ending his race. Despite this, he still showed great strength and made good ground up during the run.
“He missed the kick and wanted to get wide. He’s got to jump as he wants to get a bit wider. He’s got to straighten up a bit.” said Stagg
The recent form of Dakota Rylen has been excellent and he is showing terrific improvement with his race smarts and strength. In his last five starts, he hasn’t missed a place, whilst he has won two races which include a quick 30.63 effort before last week’s race.
“He’s a work in progress, he’s a big dog and he can really go, but he’s still learning the caper. He’s going alright and he’s getting stronger, but it’s all about thim jumping and getting a bit of room early. Said Stagg
“The week’s been good and we’ve done a bit of work with him, he’s ready to rock and roll.
Dakota Rylen has come up with a potentially awkward box two in the final. Whilst he can show great early speed, he does like room to his outside so the start of the race will be crucial to his chances. If he can get a clear run early, then he is certainly good enough to be winning the race.
“I think he would have been better drawn out a bit, but he’s just gotta jump and if he gets a bit of room then he will drive through for sure.” said Stagg
A fabulous night of racing starts at 6:21pm local time with a good crowd expected for the showcase night.
Best Bets:
Cabao Opal (Race 11, Number 2)
Riot Rooster (Race 2, Number 4)