By Adam Hamilton
Mark Purdon will head to Menangle’s huge meeting on Sunday in unfamiliar territory.
Most times the champion trainer is expected to dominate, but on Sunday it is more hopeful than confident of success with either of his two Group 1 runners.
And that’s saying something when one of them is Australasia’s best three-year-old, Vincent, in the $153,000 Group 1 NSW Breeders Challenge final (1609m).
“I wish he’d drawn a lot better and the race was 2300m instead of a mile,” Purdon said. “The combination of drawing outside the back (gate 14) over a mile means he is going to need to do something great to win.
“Atomic Red is a really nice horse, he showed that winning a heat of the NSW Derby, and if he rolls to the front from (gate) four, he’s going to take some running down, especially from where we’re drawn.”
As big as Vincent’s challenge is, he is capable of something special.
“He has the superstar factor. He could be our next stable star,” Purdon said.
Vincent looks skinny odds at $1.40 on the Aussie TAB, while Atomic Red has been backed from $4 into $3.40.
Purdon’s other Menangle runner is the talented juvenile Sicario, who faces a big challenge from gate eight in a strong 2YO colts and geldings final of the Breeders Challenge.
The race changed complexion when Shane Tritton’s Divine State slipped into the field as first emergency when stablemate Lynnsanity succumbed to a health issue.
Divine State (gate seven) has been backed from $3.50 into $2.80, while Sicario is still favourite, but has eased from $1.70 to $2.50. Exciting Tasmanian youngster Ignatius (three) is a $2.90 chance.
“If he drew two, you’d say he’s the one to beat, but the way the draws have fallen, he’ll need to pull out something special to win it,” Purdon said.
“He’s a really nice two-year-old, but he’s not out of the bag. He’s not a superstar like say Waikiki Beach was at the same time.”
After Menangle on Sunday, Purdon heads further north for the Queensland Carnival where More The Better and Partyon will fly the stable flag.
In other stable news, Purdon said it was unlikely he would have a runner in the Victoria Cup now it had been moved to October 14 and slashed from a $400,000 to $200,000 purse.
“Lazarus definitely won’t be in it. The only chance we’d have a runner is if we wanted to split horses and perhaps send of the our horses outside of the big guns across,” he said.
“The race just seems to be in no man’s land now and there’s not many other big races around it.”
Purdon confirmed Lazarus and Heavens Rock would not leave NZ before the NZ Cup.
Beyond that, Lazarus is most likely to tackle the Perth Inter Dominion, while the Miracle Mile has been circled for Heaven Rocks.
“There’s a long way to go, but Lazarus is the one we’d take to Perth. I’ve learnt from taking Smolda last year. Lazarus certainly wouldn’t mind the four races in a fortnight,” Purdon said.
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