05 December 2017 | Michael HowardWho will pull the trigger and when? That is but two of the many questions looming large ahead of Friday night’s Perth Inter Dominion, with pundits pondering what will happen in the first 800m and how that will affect the last 100m.
Mark Purdon, Kim Prentice and Chris Alford joined RSN 927AM program Gait Speed today when hosts Jason Bonnington and Blake Redden prodded for answers to the biggest questions.
Their hopes have all drawn the front line outside pole marker Tiger Tara, but Purdon and Prentice intimated Lazarus and Soho Tribeca wouldn’t be running the gate.
That would potentially open the door for Lennytheshark, the eight-year-old Victorian with genuine gate speed and strength, and Alford declared the fan favourite had the ability to lead, it was just a matter of whether they wanted to over the 2936m journey.
“I’m pretty sure that if we pressed the button early (Lennytheshark) can cross Tiger Tara, but whether that’s going to be in the best interests of the horses later in the race is another thing,” Alford said. “We will go through all the scenarios and come Friday we will know where we are at.”
Prentice, having suggested Soho Tribeca wouldn’t be in an early dogfight, instead urged Purdon to do the bulk of the work by advancing his favourite to the breeze and pressuring the likely leader.
“If they go hard enough early, I wouldn’t mind popping around to the breeze,” Prentice said. “I don’t think the lead time will be that quick … but I really think Mark has to drive Lazarus (so that he) is eyeballing Tiger Tara at the mile.”
For his part, Purdon said he expected Lazarus would be placed one out-one back or two back in the running, and he would then decide when to make his move.
“You want it to be a staying test. It will just depend how it’s run when you make a move,” he said. “In the event if they do back off I’ll be making a move, if they don’t I’ll be waiting a little longer.”
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