Mandela can cause upset

themercury.com.au

SUBSCRIPTIONS 1300 696 397

PETER STAPLES

PREMIER Tasmanian trainer Scott Brunton believes a gear change can help star galloper Mandela Effect win the Group 1 $500,000 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes over 1400m at Caulfield on Saturday.

The use of blinkers for the first time and being drawn in barrier two are expected to enhance his winning chances.

Mandela Effect is proven at weight-for-age in Tasmania and his record interstate against top opposition has him on a path towards next month’s Group 1 $1m Toorak Handicap.

The gelding comes off a first-up fifth in the Bendigo Bank Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley two weeks ago but jockey Craig Newitt described the effort as excellent, given where he was placed during the race (three back on the rails).

“Mandela gets to a more suitable trip in the Rupert Clarke and we are putting the blinkers on him for the first time and he’s drawn a good gate, so he has a lot going for him,” Brunton said.

“His first-up run was OK in my eyes but we’d have to see a fair bit more from him on Saturday if we are to push forward with his Melbourne spring campaign.”

Bookmakers rate Mandela Effect an outsider with as much as $51 offered about the son of Turffontein yesterday.

While Brunton is hoping Mandela Effect can notch his first win in Melbourne since November last year, he remains focused on the team he takes to Devonport on Sunday. He has top chances in the opening race, an open handicap over 1150m in Ruettiger and Fragment, with the latter likely to open favourite. The most interesting of his runners is his dethroned Tasmanian Derby winner Vamos Raffa who will be out to shrug off his maiden status in race four.

Vamos Raffa won the Derby but a pre-race swab revealed the presence of meloxicam, an anti-inflammatory treatment.

The reserve sample tested negative, but the horse was still disqualified and Brunton was fined $13,500. Vamos Raffa also finished fifth in the Launceston Cup, so given his past two efforts, a 1350m maiden in Devonport looks gettable for the four-year-old.

Gallant grey Ivoryman lines up in the benchmark 66 handicap over 1150m (race 7) at what will be his second outing this preparation and he looks very well-placed.

Ivoryman was a game second first-up, beaten a halflength by Silkstone, so if he takes that form into this race he will be competitive.