There is no doubt OSCAR BONAVENA is the best trotter in the I Can Doosit field at Alexandra Park Friday, but whether he is the best bet off 20m over a sprint distance at $1.80 is not so clear. At least to Mark, who favours AKUTA in the Franklin Cup as the better open class prospect of the two on the night.
He is watching both from a distance with Andre Poutama having his opportunity with Oscar while Samantha Ottley will have the task to extend Akuta’s dashing record with lady drivers in the Cup.
The reason for any reservation about Oscar as far as Mark is concerned is his dual career of racing and breeding.
“He has been quite busy shedding semen and because of that we have been a little easier on him from a work viewpoint. He seems very well in himself but it makes it just a little harder to predict where he is at in race fitness” Mark said.
Broodmare numbers, originally hoped to be 35 are now over expected to be over 50 and breeding opportunities are not easy to pass up in what is a numbers game.
Oscar Bonavena’s form was slightly affected in the south during the spring but the whole team was battling infections and how much the semen collection affected him then is hard to gauge.
There seems little doubt he will go a bold race but it is never easy over sprint trips from long marks given his favourite racing style of sprinting hard late -especially if there is any loitering in front in the middle stages.
There will be interest in his temporary “stablemate” Mystic Max with Samantha down to do the steering.
For trainer Michael Purdon the spring has been a challenge but he has hinted in his last two runs at Addington off tricky handicaps that quick improvement may be in the offing- and he went ok for Samantha at Kaikoura.As a track and distance winner his each way odds may be appealing.
Akuta is “in a good place” Mark reckons and he has sound reasons for suggesting the star’s most recent runs are misleading.
“On reflection in the Cup he was one of those who had to do too much early and he wasn’t the only one that took a toll on. In the Free for All he got back and it’s hard from there. I was also conscious that the stable had had a bug affecting their best form. You don’t have to be far off peak to struggle in that sort of company”
Merlin is clearly the horse to beat and Better Knuckle Up his stablemate will have friends. Akuta at his best is at least a match for both and the small field will aid the handicap situation for the back markers.
JUST US TWO, so overdue for a winning turn and equal favourite at $3.80 with Brooke Wilkins doing the steering, looks well placed in a maiden two year old heat while ARDEN’S MEMORY seems undervalued in the Queen of Hearts (G1) given she clocked 2.39 for the 2200 last time out in the hands of Brooke who is not yet eligible for Group One drives.
The wide gate for an on -pace runner,given three well-backed commodities have the inside gates, one of them a Group 1 winner for Mark and the Cullen Stable at Addington makes her task harder in a race All Stars once won five years in succession.
Where she is headed over the summer will probably be shaped by how she measures up Friday and $41 seems a spec. Dividend given her toughness under fire. She has won all three of her local races this campaign her only failure being in the World Driver’s Championship. Her most recent time over the 2200 would have won all but one of the last 10 Queen of Hearts contests -so she is certainly not out of her depth at this level.
PIC:Determined as usual in tight finishes, Arden’s Memory hopes to add some black type on Friday