Gate draw at Heart of ending drought

TRAINER Chris Waller believes the barrier gods could hold the key to helping talented filly Hungry Heart end a year of outs in the Group 1 Surround Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.

Saturday will mark 363 days since Hungry Heart broke her maiden at her second start when she claimed the Group 2 Sweet Embrace Stakes as a two-year-old on the same race day last year.

However, the daughter Frankel hasn’t won since.

While Hungry Heart continued to race consistently throughout the spring, she was unable to add to her winning tally, finishing runner-up in the Furious Stakes, Tea Rose Stakes and Flight Stakes.

She returned this year with a seventh in the Light Finger Stakes this month and will chase an all-important Group 1 against her own age and sex this weekend in Sydney.

“She is going good and I would love to see her draw well to get a bit of confidence because it’s lacking a little bit through barrier draws and things like that,” Waller said.

“She is well and will be fitter for the first-up run, with 1400m suiting her better.”

Hungry Heart was rarely closer than three wide in her return in the Group 2 Light Fingers Stakes this month and battled late to finish seventh in the fillies 1200m event, which was won by Every Rose.

“She was caught wide but it didn’t seem to take it out of her,” Waller (pictured) said.

“We gave her two trials and two exhibition gallops so that should quash the second-up theory.

“If you follow modern-day sport, it should work for things like that.”

Hungry Heart is on the third line of betting at $8 for the Surround Stakes. The Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Dame Giselle is favourite at $4.50 with TAB.com.au. of