The three favourites in today’s Northern Southland Trotting Cup each have a chance for redemption by winning the group 3 event.
Titan Banner, Captain Dolmio and Ears Burning all have their own story of why a win in race 9 could be considered deserving.
For Otago hope Titan Banner, the race is a chance to make up more lost ground after he was denied his chance to compete for Aussie summer riches.
The horse was to compete in races like the Hunter Cup, but his mission was aborted after a tendon injury.
Though today’s race is not quite the Hunter Cup, it does give Titan Banner the chance to further his remarkable season and add another group race to his name.
The pacer signalled he was on the path back to his very best form by going to the line under a remarkably strong hold from Dexter Dunn in his Wyndham Cup win last weekend.
The win looked ridiculously easy for those watching and it felt that way too, Dunn said.
‘‘It was, really — it was probably easier.
‘‘He felt really good.’’
As easy as the win was, Dunn thought the horse needed to go that well to prove he was back to his best.
‘‘He has put in some good performances; he ran third in the New Zealand Cup.
‘‘I know he was off 50m but he began really good.’’
Dunn rates Captain Dolmio as one of the hardest horses for him and Titan Banner to beat.
‘‘He can run and he keeps running.’’
Thanks to his both his 20m handicap and his rival’s good standing-start manners, Dunn expects Captain Dolmio to be in front of Titan Banner in the running.
‘‘He will be. He steps really good.’’
Captain Dolmio has his own claim for redemption in today’s cup.
The 5yr-old set up the speed in front in the most incredibly fast time seen in a 3200m event in the South. The horse was denied the credit of the track record-smashing time and the race win when he was run down by Classie Brigade.
That win was a part of Classie Brigade’s South Island cup-winning spree this season and is part of the claim for redemption his stablemate Ears Burning has in today’s race.
Ears Burning has chased his Nigel McGrath-trained stablemate home in the Ashburton, Central Otago and Omakau cup wins. Each time, though, race circumstances have meant Ears Burning has not had any favours to try to beat Classie Brigade; he has had to sit parked in two of those races.
Today Ears Burning has the advantage of not having to beat Classie Brigade and by starting off the front row, 20m ahead of Captain Dolmio and 40m in front of Titan Banner.
Today’s feature trot (race 5) looks like a one-horse, rather than three-horse affair.
Despite Mark Jones-trained 6yr-old Eyre I Come taking on a field in good form, he still looks a class above his rivals. The squaregaiter has won five of his eight starts this season, including his last three.
In his latest Addington win, Eyre I Come beat group 1 winner Quite A Moment. Before that, he had his classy stablemate Master Lavros covered at Addington, too.
Jones’ highly touted 2yr-old The Bus takes on maiden rivals in race 2 today.
His stable website is reporting The Bus ‘‘trialled nice last week and seems he is getting back to form, so should be very hard to beat’’.
UPDATES:
Additional information for meetings today. —
M7 Northern Southland TC
Scratching: Race 5, Bordeaux
M2 Auckland RC
Scratchings: Race 1, Seventh Up; race 4, Sultan Of Swing; race 6, Charmont; race 10, Cochise, Ulysses
Weather, raining; track, dead6; rail, out 2.5m
M4 Egmont RC
Scratchings: Race 4, Etoile D’Ange, The Imp; race 6, Mischelt
Rider: Race 5, Silver Lady — J Riddell
Weather, cloudy; track, good3; rail, true
- by Jonny Turner
