Flemington’s Tassie tinge
THE meeting at Flemington in Melbourne today has a Tasmanian flavour with four horses from three stables taking part on the nine-event card.
Last-start Caulfield winner Tshahitsi will line up in an open handicap over 1400m and he will be ridden by claiming apprentice Teodore Nugent, who partnered the Imogen Miller and Chris Crook-trained gelding to victory last start.
Premier Tasmanian trainer Scott Brunton takes a twopronged attack into today’s meeting with his star threeyear-old from last season The Inevitable to line up in a benchmark 90 handicap and his consistent mare Zuberina will tackle a benchmark 70 over 1200m.
Consistent galloper Kool Kash has been in career-best form on the synthetic at Devonport of late which has prompted his trainer Graeme McCulloch to take the gelding across Bass Strait for today’s benchmark 84 race (1720m).
Tshahitsi was very impressive in winning two weeks ago over 1400m at Caulfield where he led and battled on courageously to win comfortably from strong opposition.
Co-trainer Miller says the gelding has done well since his last win and will go into the race in top order and the market reflects that as he is a $2.70 favourite. The Inevitable hasn’t started since finishing eighth in the Group 1 Australian Guineas in March behind Tasmanian filly Mystic Journey and this race will serve as an entree for greater spoils during the spring, according to Brunton.
“This looks a good starting point for The Inevitable and hopefully we can set our sights on some good feature races further down the track,” Brunton said. “Zuberina has been working well and we have always believed she was up to Saturday city standard in Melbourne in the right sort of race and I believe we have found that race on Saturday.”
Top Tasmanian rider Siggy Carr has been booked to ride the mare. She has a great record on the daughter of Zuberi.
“She has drawn a good gate [1] from where Siggy should be able to secure a good spot in the first half of the field.”
The Inevitable represents good value as an $8 chance, while Zuberina is well over the odds at $23.
Kool Kash has won two of his past three starts in Devonport, but with no suitable graded races available on the Tasmanian calendar McCulloch has opted to test his courageous son of Rock of Gibraltar against metropolitan-grade opposition on the big stage.
“It can often be too big a step taking on a Saturday metropolitan grade race, but it is a benchmark 84 event and he gets in well at the weights,” McCulloch said “I’ve booked Tassie apprentice Chris Graham to ride him as he claims 3kg over there and that brings the horse’s weight down to 54.5kg, so that is going to make him very competitive. He is a bold, frontrunning type that would probably have been better suited to Moonee Valley, but if he was to be able to lead on Saturday the Flemington track also can suit frontrunners.”
Kool Kash is in the last race on the nine-event card and bookmakers have installed the gelding as a $67 outsider with the top weight Dr Drill from the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stable a $2.90 favourite.