The
largest field of hurdlers this year will take their places for battle in the Steeples
Sportsbar Maiden Hurdle over 2950 metres this afternoon, with one of the eleven hopefuls
looking to relinquish the title which made them eligible for the contest.
Save for Knight’s Passage, who will be
lightened by the claim for young rider, Ciaron Maher, each runner will carry the set
impost of 65 kgs, ensuring a keenly fought contest between some fresh faces on the scene
and those that have benefited from a few outings over the sticks already this year.
Trainer Jim Houlahan will introduce us to his
latest star pupil, Zabeel’s Pride, who is sure to command the attention of keen
assessors when he steps out for his debut over the hurdles, having done all his previous
racing in New South Wales and the ACT, before landing in the care of the Rosebud mentor.
A win here today for Zabeel’s Pride would
go a long way to easing the disappointment suffered by Houlahan over the injury to one of
his rising stars, Zubin, during the recent Hurdle event at Moe. Zubin sustained a strained
tendon jumping the last obstacle and will now require a lengthy layoff to recover, forcing
his trainer to abandon plans for a scheduled journey to Oakbank.
The only query that, seemingly, needs to be
answered by Zabeel’s Pride will be that of his ability to run out the 2950 metres of
today’s race. Following a successful hurdle trial with raceday jockey, Craig Durden
aboard at Cranbourne on the 5th. of February, Zabeel’s Pride will go in to this event
with only that outing and two flat runs under his belt and a history that contains only 4
starts in excess of 2000 metres.
Also making his jumping debut will be the
lightly raced, Beaumont Forrest. Trained at Caulfield by James Riley, the 5yo Danehill
gelding will give jockey, Howard Jenkins his first opportunity to post a result this
calendar year.
Jenkins will be joined by John Hulls
(Presidency) and Rod Grantley (Tidy Tom) in making their first appearances for 2001,
whilst Willie Harnett will be looking to his mount, Indianapolis to "rev up" and
continue his run of good fortune.
Two horses hoping for a change in fortune,
having both separately chased home the in-form Osborne Well at their last starts, are the
Pat Hyland trained, Covet Cross and Knight’s Passage from the Peter Hayes stable.
Both look to have bright futures in the
discipline, with Covet Cross certain to have benefited from his battle at Moe 13 days ago,
whilst it has been over a month since Knight’s Passage showed glimpses of his
potential at Werribee.
Throw into the equation, Andrestad, Apollon,
Dove Edwin and Tijuana Taxi - who have all been around the mark at differing stages of
their current preparation and we have the right mix for one of the most intriguing races
this year.
Whether we uncover a new star on the scene or
one of the old stagers hits their straps, make sure to catch the full report here next
week.
Till then, as always..............GO JUMP
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
