Izaha horror draw puzzle
QUALITY t hree- year- ol d pacer Izaha has been lumbered with a horror draw for tomorrow night’s $40,000 Globe Derby Stakes (2200m) final in Launceston, which has his trainer-driver Todd Rattray in a quandary.
Izaha starts from near the outside of the second row (gate 12) in a field of 13, which is awkward but it should offer punters a decent price about the gelded son of Roll With Joe.
Izaha confirmed his status as a rising star when he delivered a career-best effort to win his Globe Derby heat in Launceston last Monday week, when he was used up early from a wide front-row draw to lead and then ran his rivals off their legs over the last 400m.
“The draw is a concern but I know my horse has a fair turn of foot and he is very strong, and they are the assets I’ll be relying on to win on Friday night,” Rattray said.
“I won’t go into the race with any preconceived plan because, from that draw, it will all depend on how the race pans out.
“It also depends on which horse finds the front and where my main dangers are positioned, so I’ll just have to sit back and have a look and then make a decision during the first 800 metres of the race.”
Izaha won a heat of the Dandy Patch Stakes on debut as a two-year-old and finished second to Feelin Dusty in the final, but he returned this season much bigger and stronger.
“I’m more than pleased with the horse’s progress this time in and, while he has been very competitive this season, I firmly believe he is another season away from being a very good horse.”
Feelin Dusty won three in succession before his last-start second to Izaha in their Globe Derby heat, so from gate nine he should get a decent run through from his second-row draw.
Feelin Dusty’s stablemate Streitkid had drawn the outside of the front row (7) so his task hasn’t been made easy, though he possesses good gate speed, so his driver Ricky Duggan might opt to have a look for the lead early in the race.
The other heat winner Dufrense will start from gate six on the front row.
Dufrense is unbeaten from four starts this season and is likely to vie for the lead at some stage unless his trainerdriver Rohan Hillier can find a good spot in the one-out line, with cover early in the race. THE other feature race on the card is the $40,000 Bandbox for three-year-old fillies and this looks a one-way traffic job with Victorian-owned and trained filly Nostra Beach likely to start a long odds-on favourite after her win in the prelude last Monday week.
The Emma Stewart-trained filly won the prelude by almost 50m, clocking a mile rate over the 2200m of 1.58.7 and without being fully extended.
She meets pretty much the same field tomorrow night and she has drawn ideally in gate five on the front row which means she will probably be used up to find the front, from where she should be unbeatable.