Inter Dominion of shocks
Market in disarray after favourite draws wide and injury to Victorian
Defending champion Lennytheshark looks increasingly likely to take his place in Friday’s Inter Dominion final after a chaotic weekend that has seen the market turned on its head.
The superstar Victorian pacer plunged the Perth series into a spin when he was surprisingly beaten last Friday night and stewards advised immediately after the race he was sore in both front legs.
Trainer David Aiken quickly refuted that and said Lennytheshark’s below-par performance in his heat on Friday was because of a hoof abscess.
He will now have to undergo a veterinary examination before being allowed to start, with fears for his soundness so serious initially that the Australian TAB listed him as “doubtful” in their markets.
“Being an abscess is far better than anything structural in his legs so we are quite relieved,” Aiken’s son and right-hand man Josh told the Herald.
“So we will know more as the week unfolds but Dad is confident he can get him there.”
The loss and subsequent speculation saw Lennytheshark drift from $3 before Friday’s heat to a remarkable $7.50 for the final with some bookmakers.
He was drawn in the field on Sunday and has secured barrier four, which is seemingly perfect for him, and would start considerably shorter if punters thought he was going to be back to his best for Friday night.
His troubles had a huge impact on the market but so, too, did hot favourite Hectorjayjay being handed the worse possible draw, the outside of the front line for the final.
After dominating his heats to come through the series unbeaten, Hectorjayjay got as short as $1.70 pre-draw but has bounced back out to $2.50 with Australian bookies.
His draw suggests he has no chance of running to his favoured pacemaking role and luck will now come into play around a Gloucester Park track on which leaders thrive.
Kiwi reps Smolda (barrier seven) and Franco Nelson (six) have awkward draws and both look likely to have to come wide in the last lap, although as New Zealand Cup runnerups they will at least be suited by the step up to 2936m mobile.
The big winner in the draw was former Kiwi pacer Run Oneover, who has shortened from $81 pre-series to $4 second favouritism after securing barrier two, with Bling It On perfectly placed on his back from the ace.
Smolda’s stablemates Piccadilly Princess and Mr Mojito could both start favourite in supporting group one races on Friday night.
The drama for harness racing’s elite horses hasn’t just been confined to Perth though, with Have Faith In Me’s Auckland Cup defence looking in tatters.
The Miracle Mile winner is undergoing an intensive veterinary examination in Waikato this week to diagnose why he has been pacing roughly and racing below his best this season, with trainer Mark Purdon admitting a Cup start is now unlikely.
New Zealand’s two best trotters are also out for the summer, with both Monbet and Speeding Spur to miss the Christmas carnival at Alexandra Park and the Victorian summer.
Monbet is set to undergo a bone chip operation this week and could even miss the rest of the season, while the connections of Speeding Spur have pulled the pin on defending their Great Southern Star title.
“We don’t want to rush him back so the Anzac Cup and Rowe Cup are now our main aims,” says Speeding Spur’s co-trainer Josh Dickie.
That leaves the trotting group one’s over the summer shorn of their biggest names and with Stent still troubled by injury, 4-year-old Marcoola is now the big gun of the ranks for upcoming features.
He has opened favourite for the National Trot on December 31, in front of Master Lavros, who is back trialling and Australian visitor Kyvalley Blur, who has remained in New Zealand because of the weakened open class ranks.
“He is handling open class well and will travel north on Wednesday and start in the Lyell Creek on the 16th on his way to the National,” says Marcoola’s trainer-driver Clint Ford.