Trekking firms as Stradbroke fancy
SATURDAY’S Goodwood winner Trekking has been allocated 58kg in his bid to win the Group 1 Stradbroke in successive years next month.
Trekking, who carried 54kg last year, has been the big market mover since Saturday, where punters are thinking he can become the first dual winner since Black Piranha in 2009-10 and the eighth overall to win back-to-back Stradbrokes. He will also be aiming to give Godolphin its third Stradbroke in four tries after it also took the race with Impending in 2017.
If successful, Trekking will be the highest weighted Stradbroke winner since Rough Habit won the race for a second time in 1992 with 58.5kg.
Ladbrokes have marked Trekking on the second line of betting at $8 behind Saturday’s Inglis Guineas winner Dawn Passage.
Trekking is second in the weights, with the 2018 Stradbroke winner Santa Ana Lane allotted 58.5kg topweight by Racing Queensland handicappers yesterday.
Le Romain and Kementari are next with 55.5kg.
Vega One, who is third in betting at $9, has just 52kg in the Stradbroke, but is assured of a start owing to his win in December’s inaugural running of The Gateway.
Without that win, he would currently be outside the cut off of 18 runners. Similarly, Tambo’s Mate is assured of a start with his 51kg impost after winning the BRC Sprint.
Dawn Passage comes in at 37th in the order of entry with 50kg, or a half-kilo over the 49.5kg limit for three-yearolds.
Gold Coast Guineas winner Hightail, who is a $14 chance in the Stradbroke, is 30th in the order with the same weight as Dawn Passage.
Both can run in the Fred Best Classic on Saturday week to secure their place.
Last year’s runner-up Tyzone has been given 52.5kg, which puts him at 19th in the order of entry, a position that historically should assure him a place in the field given the usual attrition rate.
Trainer James Cummings has seven of the top 18 qualifiers, with Trekking and Kementari joined by Savatiano (53kg), Deprive (53.5kg), Best Of Days (53.5kg), Home Of The Brave (53.5kg) and Ranier (53kg).