By Duane Ranger
Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen are the leading conditioners at Alexandra Park this season, but don’t expect the Canterbury duo to claim the track’s training premiership in 2016-2017.
Purdon and Rasmussen are currently one and three wins ahead of Barry Purdon and Tony Herlihy (MNZM) respectively.
“We’ve got two horses racing at Alexandra Park this Friday and then after that we will be all finished at ‘The Park’ for the season.
“Group races are where we are concentrating at present. You don’t get anything for winning training premierships. We always enjoy racing at Alexandra Park and hopefully we can finish in style on Friday,” Rasmussen said.
On Friday the All Stars Stable will line up Regal Love in the eighth event – the $14,999 Primor Produce Handicap for the R62 to R98 totters, and A Lister in the last race – the $12,000 Jarvis Mobile for 2-year-old and older pacers.
They will be driven by Brent Mangos and Herlihy respectively.
“Regal Love is racing around to get some form back while A Lister is trying to accumulate points for the Jewels Final. I think they bare both good chances, but the Jewels Finals are now our immediate priority,” said Rasmussen.
Purdon and Rasmussen’s record at Alexandra Park this season has been stunning to say the least.
They lead the national training premiership from Robert Dunn by 19 with 93 wins. Twenty three of those wins have come at Alexandra Park – an amazing feat considering they have only lined up 74 starters at Alexandra Park this season.
They have also placed 24 times and boast an amazing 0.4640 UDR strike-rate.
“It’s been another good year both down here and in the north. Dream About Me’s Auckland Cup was a highlight as were Lazarus’s wins up there. We will be back in the new season around Christmas time,” Rasmussen said.
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