If she comes out, I think she’ll be hard to beat but you need luck around the first turn and the best dog never wins at Dapto.
Most of the pace in the race is out wide so she’s got the gun draw and there’s no excuses. History’s Coming is well boxed too but he came out and went to the right a little bit last week so that’d be handy for us again. She just needs to be left alone in the run to the first corner.
I’d say she’s the best dog in the litter [out of Poco Dorado]. She’s certainly the quickest trial dog but there’s not much between her and Might Have Been on race day. It’s hard to believe she could be a dual Group 1 winner on Thursday, we didn’t think the litter would be top grade dogs when they first started so they’ve come a long way.
Hardest To Beat:Good Odds Cobber is the class but he’s boxed terribly so I don’t know if he gets across. Power And Glory needs luck around the first turn too but we don’t want him on our tail.
History’s Coming will stay glued to the rail from Box 2 and if he can ping out like he did in the National Derby [in January], he could be hard to run down.
I’ve had him and Hurricane both going over the shorts in the last month to sharpen them up and it’s been so satisfying for the plan to work out the way it has. He wasn’t at his best during the WINTER campaign despite still trialling really well so I was hopeful he would turn things around on race night and he has.
He’s a jump, run and lead sort of dog and before the heats, he hadn’t raced over 500m since July so hopefully there’s upside to come. I think my two could run some cover for one another with any luck and if Hurricane can get across and hold the other speed dogs out, History might get the run of the race.
Hardest To Beat:
I know Minnie [Finn] said she doesn’t want the inside but Gets Late Early could just jump, run and push everything out of the way. She went in with a lot of work under her belt so with a freshen up, she could be the hardest to beat.
Her only hope is to lead because she’s not overly strong…in saying that, I wouldn’t swap her for any other dog in the race because I know she can lead and it is a leaders track. She’s third up at Dapto too so everything is pointing to her running some sort of race.
In her first start at Dapto, she flew early (5.31) and was really humming. She missed the corner though and Miss Zig Zag got straight onto her back. Then last week in the heats, she had a similar first split but Power And Glory got straight onto her back again. If she can lead, you never know what can happen on that first turn and I’d rather be at the front than at the back.
The two inside her are dangerous but Gets Late Early wants to get off the fence a bit and I think History’s Coming wants to go the other way so they might get in the way of one another and help her scoot to the front.
Hardest To Beat:
I’d want to be five in front of Power And Glory and Good Odds Cobber if they were sitting on my hammer. They are the two strongest dogs in the race and if they possie up behind my girl, her arse is grass.
He’s feeling really good and has been on his toes this week so I think he might surprise them on Thursday.
Last week was his first go out of the boxes since he won his maiden at Dapto in February so I’d like to think he’ll be improved by the run and if he can get his timing right, maybe he can find a nice position into that first turn.
I think Harmony Fire will probably lead the race so if my bloke can get a cart into the race on the back of her, that’d be perfect. It’s a very fast run to the first turn though so I’ll just be happy if we get through the bend without too much going wrong.
I have a feeling he’ll be right amongst it early because when he gets going, he just pushes through and he’s got no fear.
Hardest To Beat:
History’s Coming is well boxed, Minnie Finn’s dogs always go good in big races and I’m concerned about Good Odds Cobber out in the Box 8.
He’s probably not a Group 1 dog but he’s been going super at Wenty Park and deserves his chance.
He was a big run last week, he got hit early but shook that off, then he got dragged down through the catching pen and still managed to run the leader to a length. He’s a ferocious chaser and he’s been super lately, only missing a place once in 15 starts.
He’s not an inside dog because he just misses the start a bit but he can muster. Theres no reason why he can’t run 29.60 which puts him somewhere near it.
The fastest dog doesn’t always win at Dapto so our best scenario is Hurricane Reign pings and leads and we can somehow be in the top two and over near the fence. He’ll run through any little gap that presents itself to get there.
As much as I hope we win, we’ve got to be realistic as well…I’d just be happy to make the podium.
Hardest To Beat:
Kenny Burnett’s dog is a very smart animal. Good Odds Cobber is a good dog too but he might be posted a bit wide at the first corner.
She will run a pretty straight line to the first turn and even though there’s a bit of speed drawn outside her, I’m comfortable she can lead to the first bend or sit outside Harmony Fire and then find the front.
Giving her a few looks down here at Dapto (the final will be her fourth start in a row at the track) seems to have worked as well. We did the same at Nowra for the Puppy Classic and she ran really well in that series.
If she runs 5.35 to the first mark, they jam up on the bend and she finds herself out in front, she’ll be hard to get past.
Obviously her early pace is the key to the race so for her to have a chance, she’ll need to run 5.35 or better in the first section.
We would have preferred to draw Boxes 1, 2 or 3 but being out wider was the second best option so she doesn’t get cluttered up. I think our only hope is to get a fair way out in front of the stronger dogs and pinch it.
I thought she was under some pressure at the 600m boxes last week and did well to hold off Bumpy Gold, especially considering she was backing up from racing on the Saturday. She’s had the week off now and I think she can go 29.8 at best…we’ll have to wait and see if that’s good enough.
Hardest To Beat:
I’m looking at the ones with early pace. Tom Rees’ dogs should get a good run, Neil Staines’ bitch can make its own luck out in front and I think Good Odds Cobber is the experienced campaigner. Power And Glory is obviously the fastest dog in the race but I don’t know where he’ll end up.
We’re up the s###. He can win from anywhere at his best but you need that much luck in a Group 1 final from Box 8.
Hurricane Reign and Overflow Jill are quick out though so his best chance is if they pull him into the race. He’s one of the best railers in Australia and he nearly threw the heat away trying to go inside Hurricane Reign, even once he got outside it, he nearly put it through the fence he’s so keen to have the inside and he’ll have to do it the hard way if he’s to win.
If he could get out in front and on the rail, he could go 29.3 but that doesn’t happen in big races. We’re praying for luck.
Hardest To Beat:
Power And Glory is the one to beat and a real up and comer. It went quick the other day in average conditions and on a track that wasn’t lightning fast.
