| The forecast of
continued sweltering temperatures this weekend won’t be the only reason the heat will
be on out Werribee way on Saturday afternoon, with trainer Peter Hayes hoping to unveil
some " hot property " of his own in the form of debut hurdler, Knight’s
Passage. Although only lightly raced, the 6yo Sir
Tristram (IRE) gelding has had plenty of miles under his belt this preparation and should
present himself in steely condition for his first assignment over the hurdles.
Whilst the jumping credentials of Knight’s Passage
will face their acid test, his ability to get over the 2800metres of the Wettenhall’s
Interstate Transport Hurdle is undoubted, having been successful at distances ranging from
1600mtrs to 2550 in his 7 career wins on the flat to date which have netted connections
near on $100,000
The race has brought a mixture of youthful, novice jumpers
together with some more experienced campaigners and joining Knight’s Passage as a
member of the first start hurdle club is the Simon Gebert 5yo Regal Ark, who will have the
services of Hugh O’Sullivan to benefit the launch of his jumping career.
Marty Mills will again combine with Tijuana Taxi and be
looking to step up a rung or two from their last start outing which produced a solid third
behind Unanswered at Terang on New Years day.
The race might not prove to be any "picnic" for
the Robbie Laing trained veteran, Mr.Hyde though, who has been competing on the satellite
circuit in recent times and will be facing the starter for the 67th time come Saturday.
But he won’t be alone in his age bracket, with no less than 4 other runners,
Andrestad, Karalanza, Lucky Striker and Osborne Well, all firmly entrenched in their
eighth year.
Five year old, Apollon, will be having his first look at
the sticks this time in, but showed signs during a chequered preparation last year that he
possesses some ability when it comes to this caper and his performance will be keenly
monitored.
So whilst the competition will be fierce for the spoils,
the measuring stick of the event could be in the ability of Knight’s Passage to
combine his flat ability with some well executed hurdling and if the recipe is right,
could well apply some pressure to Outshone’s track record of 3-3.10 min.
One thing is for certain , all will be revealed and
recaptured in the post race round up right here next week, where we’ll keep you up to
date with all the latest in the world of jumping.
Till then.............GO JUMP !!
Don Cooper |
