Things are heating up on both sides of the Tasman for Purdon Racing with Auckland, Motukarara and Melton the stages after nice runs from the two year old fillies and impressive win for Luvstruck at Addington on Friday.
Mark is doing the honours at Alexandra Park steering the promising Treacherous Baby from the ace gate in the Sires Stakes heat for fillies, with Arden’s Memory drawn outside of her. He also takes an outside drive on Jolimont for Arna Donnelly, a first upper capable of surprising.
Ace gates for young pacers can often bring mixed results but Mark is hoping fo the best with Treacherous Baby, a filly who looks well above average as might be expected from a daughter of a multi G1 winner.
“She can get out of the gate ok so it depends what the others can do. Brent Mangos’s filly,(Treacherous Love -also by Captain Treacherous) gets out quickly I understand and could make the front and if she does,well it depends on what happens next”
Three back on the fence if Brent hands up is not so good but Treacherous Baby is backing up from a tough run behind benchmark stablemate,Vessem, at Addington.
“That was a good effort in the circumstances and she should only improve” Mark said. Shuffled back in the middle stages,Treacherous Baby, was three wide from the 800 and stuck strongly in the straight. She will take beating.
Stablemate Arden’s Memory was far from disgraced though running home strongly to be close to her stablemate at the finish. In both her starts however she has not matched Treacherous Baby’s gate speed though a small field will aid a big finish with maestro Tony Herlihy in the cart.
Hard to beat is the Barry Purdon/Scott Phelan runner, Kiss, who has had more practice than most rivals and done well with it.
Mark is not so bullish about Oscar Bonavena (pictured) whom Olivia will steer in the Derek Jones Memorial when he will clash with Michael’s Mystic Max.
“He will need the race” Mark said of the veteran who is preparing for the major races at the Cup carnival.
Oscar Bonavena,still only seven, was 2nd in the race last year but was 4th up at that stage.So Mystic Max may turn out the leading contender in the race as far as the Purdon family is concerned.
“He’s only had one start on the grass and he was a bit unlucky. Blair came back and told me it was the best he had trotted to that stage so I am not too worried about that” Michael said
“Mataderos looks the one to beat on its grass record.It’s won the last two of them and we all know how Oscar Bonavena can get home if he has the luck back off 30m. On his work I like to think Mystic Max can win though”
Sherlock winning the $20,000 race he lines up in at Melton on Saturday will be a bitter sweet pill for Nathan to swallow having missed his $150,000 objective last weekend.
(The Real) Sherlock has bounced back quickly enough to race just seven days later from a foot abcess and he should make amends on his recent form underlining the cruel timing of last week’s setback. Nathan returned to Rolleston this week for a planned break between major races for the Australian team.