Wide draw won’t worry Shark
Melody Belle is thriving as she prepares for Saturday’s Livamol Classic at Hastings
There was plenty of good news and a smidgen of bad yesterday for the Te Akau trio trying to pull off a group one treble this Saturday.
And champion jockey James McDonald says even that bad news might be all right depending on the tempo of the A$1 million Epsom at Randwick.
That is the richest leg of the treble trainer Jamie Richards is trying to secure this weekend, with Te Akau Shark still retaining favouritism for the mega mile even after drawing barrier 16 with McDonald in the saddle.
That hardly sounds ideal in a capacity field but Te Akau Shark has been at his most potent when allowed to find his feet and roll home in clear air, which the tempo of Sydney’s major miles can often allow.
“And if there is any big mile race over here where a widish draw isn’t a disaster it is at Randwick,” says McDonald.
“You can overcome it there because of the long run down the back and particularly in the big miles like the Epsom and the Doncaster.
“And while these are all good horses at this level, to be honest, I have seen stronger Epsom fields.
“So it won’t be easy to win but our draw is also not as bad as it sounds because Dreamforce (20) and Kolding (13), who are the ones to beat, have also drawn wide.
“Dreamforce will have to do some work because it likes to go forward while Kolding will be back with us. With a couple of lighter weighted horses whose best chance is to roll the dice and go forward in the race, there should be good tempo.”
While Te Akau and McDonald pair up with Te Akau Shark they are in opposite camps for the other group one Richards chases in Sydney on Saturday, the A$500,000 Flight Stakes.
Richards has Probabeel in the 1600m feature and while she was ridden by McDonald in her first start of this campaign he then chose local filly Funstar, who subsequently beat a luckless Probabeel by a nose in the Tea Rose Stakes 11 days ago.
They have scared most of the other three-year-old fillies away and face only four rivals on Saturday, which McDonald admits favours Probabeel.
“I would have loved it to be a 12 or 14 horse field and Probabeel have to come from well back to try and beat us because my filly will be on the speed,” says McDonald.
“But now she (Probabeel) will at worst be three pairs back and will be charging hard late. It should be a good contest because they are both very good fillies.”
Richards watched both Te Akau Shark and Probabeel work at Randwick yesterday morning and is thrilled with them both.
“He is exactly where he needs to be for the mile while Probabeel has handled the racing really well, which is sometimes a concern for fillies at this stage of the season, but I couldn’t be happier with her.”
While there was plenty of reason to smile in Sydney, the news was just as good at the stable’s Matamata headquarters where Melody Belle is thriving as she prepares for Saturday’s Livamol Classic at Hastings.
The outstanding mare was spot on in her work under Opie Bosson yesterday and Richards says bad luck is his biggest concern as Melody Belle looks to become the first winner of the Hawke’s Bay Triple Crown.
The field for the Livamol and the rest of the Hastings card which includes the Hawke’s Bay Guineas are finalised just after 10am today.