Speedo on the rise: Anderson
TRAINER Chris Anderson says Group 1 runner Sharp Speedo has never raced better as he weighs up whether to start the mare at Gold Coast today.
With rain forecast, Anderson has also nominated Sharp Speedo for races at Doomben today and the Sunshine Coast tomorrow as insurance.
“We have drawn an awful gate in town (19) but because it is 2000m there and her pattern of racing is to get back, I think she is up to winning one of these benchmark races in town,” he said.
“I’m hoping the decision will be an easy one with weather and tracks.
“The Gold Coast race will be the easier race. If she was to go there I’d be expecting her to run well.
“She probably should have won another couple of races this horse.
“When horses do get back and need tempo upfront and they need things to go their way a little bit more.
“Ultimately it costs them as far as wins are concerned.”
Sharp Speedo began her current preparation with a seventh at the Gold Coast and followed it with a third at Doomben and second at the Sunshine Coast last month.
“Her first-up run at Doomben was super,” he said. “She may have got seventh but she was beaten by half a head from third.
“She rarely puts in a bad effort. She is very tough and willing. She just needs a little luck to go her way.”
Sharp Speedo became Anderson’s first Group 1 runner when she started in the Queensland Oaks (2200m) in June.
“It was just a throw at the stumps really,” Anderson said of Sharp Speedo, who ran last in the race.
“We probably knew we were never going to be any threat with her but it was the owner’s first horse and to get her to a Group 1 was an achievement in itself for a $20,000 yearling.”
Anderson said the fouryear-old “progressive horse” was yet to reach her peak.
“She is a horse I think will probably continue to get better,” he said.
“I know she has had three starts in this time and hasn’t won but she has probably never raced as well as what she has this time in.”