Dunn’s despair at dud draw

Any hopes Geoff Dunn had of springing an upset win with Cole Porter at Addington tomorrow night virtually disappeared when the draws came out.

The man who experienced a charmed run over the past few years with Venus Serena and Tiger Tara unleashed his next star, Cole Porter, in the Sapling Stakes back in February.

It was a brilliant 1.53.9 mile-rate win at Ashburton, sinking the likes of Cullenburn and The Brooklyn Brawler with a 26.4 final quarter.

But he was only to have two more starts last season after his gait lost its form, the culprit likely a deep-seated abscess.

‘‘He went a couple of super trials and paced perfectly then when we started him, out of the blue, he paced disgustingly.

‘‘We played around and ended up putting some go-straights on him for a couple more starts and the best he could manage was an ordinary fourth.

‘‘So we turned him out and when we brought him back in after six weeks, on the first day he jogged, a massive abscess blew out of his foot.

‘‘I’d say that was what the problem was; you can’t detect the bloody things.’’

Fast-forward to the present and Dunn is thrilled with how Cole Porter has come up for his sophomore season.

So ahead of this week’s heat Dunn was praying for a good marble. The result? The outside of the second line.

Worse still, the all-conquering Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen stable drew two, three, five and two on the second line.

That gives them all the tactical advantage they need to dominate the race with a team spear-headed by last season’s champion juvenile Spankem and the unbeaten Chase Auckland.

Dunn says Cole Porter’s task is futile.