The All Stars dominance of Australian features is set to continue this weekend.
Fresh from their success last Sunday at TABCORP Park, Menangle where they claimed three Gr.1 Breeders Challenge features, the Christchurch stables of Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen is represented in two states on Saturday night.
At Albion Park in Brisbane, the stable have Smolda contesting the Gr.1 $100,000 Garrards Sunshine Sprint and Hug The Wind in the Gr.1 $100,000 Nursery Flying Stakes while Follow The Stars starts in the Gr.1 $110,000 Vicbred Super Series Final.
Rasmussen takes the lines behind the Brisbane runners while Anthony Butt retains the drive behind Follow The Stars after he won behind the colt last week.
And the stable are confident.
“We’re happy with all the boys going into the weekend; Smolda has settled in really well since coming north from Sydney and will prove very hard to beat in the Sunshine Sprint while the 3yo boys are both in excellent form, we’re hoping it will be a another good weekend.” Rasmussen said.
Amazingly, the stable have won 8 Gr.1 features in the last month alone which dates back to the stable winning five Jewels features at Ashburton on May 30 the coupled with the trio they claimed last week in Sydney.
The stable have won 30 races on Australian soil this season including seven Gr.1 features with the promise of plenty more to come.
The Queensland carnival boasts seven Gr.1 features while the Australasian Breeders Crown in Melbourne next month will be eagerly attacked by the stable.
“We’re very fortunate to have a bunch of great owners plus, and more importantly, we have great support staff which enables us to target these strong Australian carnivals. Having the right people behind us is the major factor in our success, we’ve got great staff.
“Mark has flown north from Sydney for a couple of days and we’re going to sit down and re-write campaigns for some of our runners. We do this at the completion of each carnival and now that Sydney is over, we need to focus on our future plans while many of the Jewels teams are due back in soon.
“So far the Brisbane campaign has been excellent for us but we know it’s going to get harder in the coming weeks. We’re here for the big prizemoney events and we’re hopeful of picking up the races that we’ve set for these runners.”
The stable had mixed results with barrier draws for the Brisbane features this weekend with Smolda landing gate three in the Sunshine Sprint while Hug The Wind must overcome gate seven in the Nursery Flying Stakes.
Rasmussen was left feeling a little intrigued.
“I’m happy with the draw with Smolda; he should take up a handy position from that draw and he’ll run his normal honest race, his recent form in Sydney has been excellent and it’s been great for his confidence. His work since arriving up here has been very good so he’s ready to go but Avonnova will prove hard to catch from the inside gate.
“Hug The Wind is a funny little fella but he’s continued to improve since being here, his form this season has been very good and he deserves a big race so hopefully he gets here in Brisbane. He won well enough at Redcliffe while he trialed nicely at Albion Park last Friday, the draw is a shocker but I’m happy with him.
“We’ve also got Fight For Glory starting on Saturday night and this will complete her preparation for next week’s Gr.1 Queensland Oaks, we never planned on starting her in the Nursery Flying Stakes against the boys. Gentle Western starts on Friday at Albion Park in a heat of the Country Cup and the final is scheduled for Saturday week, both are in great shape.”
It’s safe to say, the dominance could easily continue.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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