NZ HARNESS NEWS
From Roxburgh to Russley to taking on the world.
That is the path the Brad Mowbray-trained Delishka has taken before matching herself against some of Australasia’s best mares in Saturday night’s Group 1 A$100,000 Ladyship Cup at Melton.
Quite simply the last start Roxburgh Cup winner would not have been taken on her unlikely path to chase Australia’s big race riches if her trainer did not think she was up to the task.
“Absolutely, she has got form against Partyon and Bonnie Joan and those ones over here, so there is no reason she is not capable of getting some money,” Mowbray said.
The Russley trainer’s wife Mel has taken the horse on her Aussie excursion and has reported that the horse has settled in perfectly at Nicole Molander’s Riddells Creek property.
“She has settled in really well and Mel is really happy with her.”
Former Kiwi turned Victorian local reinsman Anthony Butt has been charged with pulling off an upset win with Delishka from barrier four.
And should he be able to do that, it would be a case of mission complete in the first of four Aussie feature races the mare will contest over the next month.
“We are not overly confident she can win one, but she has got four group races in a month and hopefully we can run a placing in a couple of them to help her as a broodmare,” Mowbray said.
While barrier four may sound like the perfect alley, it could prove a tricky spot to be in a race that could be dominated by horses on the markers.
Former All Stars mare Golden Goddess has landed barrier 1 in the event and her Kerryn Manning-trained stablemate Ameretto is drawn to trail her throughout from barrier 8.
That is set to make life tricky for not only Delishka but also Partyon (2) and Piccadilly Princess (10) when they clash with their ex-stablemate.
Drawing one on the second row might have been good news for the connections of Ameretto, but it was not so fortunate for New Zealand’s number one ranked trotter Temporale.
The Tony Herlihy-trained and driven star will start behind roughie The Boss Man in Saturday night’s A$300,000 Great Southern Star.
With The Boss Man struggling in last week’s EB Cochran Trotters Cup, Herlihy will be looking to get away from the pegs as quickly as he can.
The barrier draw was not kind to comeback trotter Speeding Spur either as he will start from the outside of the second row as he looks to win another Great Southern Star.
Co-trainer John Dickie says an increased workload appears to have reinvigorated his charge in the past few weeks.
“His work has been super and I could not be more pleased with him.
“We took him in to Pukekohe for a private workout on Saturday and couldn’t have been happier with how he went.”
Saturday night’s group 1 A$300,000 Victoria Derby Final is a case of step down Chase Auckland, arise Spankem.
The Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen trained three-year-old has the chance to settle an argument that has been brewing on both sides of the Tasman.
And he has the perfect barrier draw – four – to do it from.
The argument from the Aussies is that Lumineer is the best sophomore in Australasia, while Kiwis say Chase Auckland is the best.
With Spankem rated behind Chase Auckland in the Kiwi ranks, he has the chance to pour cold water on the argument if he is able to take down Lumineer in his hometown Derby.
Barrier four gives the perfect opportunity for the nuggety colt to stay in front of his Aussie rival though driver Mark Purdon may have to coax more gate speed out of his charge than he showed in his heat win last week.
The Devils Own copped the worst of the draws when landing on the outside of the second line, while the third of last week’s heat winners Poster Boy will start from the outside of the front line.
- NZ Harness News
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
