New Year gifts
behind CARTEL.
Dick Cardenas is really good at preserving speed and should have enough left in the tank when MALACHI comes calling in the stretch run. Don’t forget that A.P.I. won at the distance on her debut.
New trainer Anthony Dixon has been handed the 1820-metre McKay Security Trophy on a platter with his second starter, MONEYNEVERSLEEP. The 10-year-old bay mare toyed with $180,000 claimers last time out, winning easily at a mile.
Prior to that run, she was down the track on a $350,000 tag but had taken apart $250,000 company in her two previous starts, making her totally out-of-class among $180,000 horses.
FAILING TO BREAK
Meanwhile, the Fan Appreciation Day Trophy appears a bit more challenging as overnight allowance races usually are with a mix of horses – some on their way up in class, another set being settlers at the level after failing to break into open allowance and others stepping down in class on get-out-ofjail cards.
AWESOME DESTINY is the jailbreak horse in the line-up. A United States-bred five-year-old, AWESOME DESTINY beat UK importee KALAMATA and HOUDINI’S MAGIC at her pet trip, 1820 metres, on July 8 to graduate to open allowance.
However, she has had a torrid time hopscotching between open allowance and grade one, unable to use her pace to dominate at those levels.
Note, though, that when she stepped back down to overnight allowance, two Wednesdays ago, she was only beaten by stablemate BLUE DIXIE in a fast mile, 1:37.3, beaten by eight lengths while showing market signals of 3-1.
Wayne DaCosta’s ROYAL VIBES and Anthony Nunes’ DONTAE will both get the distance. However, ROYAL VIBES is way too heavy at 57,0 kilos whereas DONTAE is always suspect to speed that holds up the lane, which is exactly what AWESOME DESTINY should do with Dane Dawkins, who was aboard when she made all to beat KALAMATA and HOUDINI’S MAGIC.