Launching Pad winner Kuro Kismet steps up to the middle distance for the first time tonight and trainer Matt Clark is confident of a good result.
‘Sox’ has long been regarded as one of the strongest sprinters in the sport with a step up in distance inevitable.
“This dog from day 1 has wanted more ground and we’ve just held off and held off. He’s ticking boxes every week and tonight is a test to see how he’ll handle the corner start,” said Clark this morning on RSN’s Form Express.
He’ll jump from box 4 in race 7 with the benefit of a vacant box on his outside.
“Generally when you step them up they can find the lead a bit easier. He’s got a vacant box on his outside and we know he likes to travel around the middle part of the track.
“He’s perfectly drawn where he is and I think he’s great value. He’s been knocking on the door for this sort of ground and this is the ideal race.
“It’s not going to be easy, there’s a couple of good dogs in it but I think he’s good value.
“His future is definitely going to be in the staying ranks. I think he’s going to make a really good stayer over the next month or two.”
Clark also has Showtime Boomer in race 11 but wasn’t as bullish about his chances.
“He’s one of the favourites in our kennel. He’s drawn inside out but my dad has always said with wide runners if you can’t get the pink the next best box is the red. I’m hoping he can find the front early for his owner Joel Burleigh, he’s a good kid.”
Click here for tonight’s fields and markets
My fancies for the night:
Race 1, Don’t Tell Bluey (8)
I’m taking on the $1.35 favourite Zac’s Entity as anything can happen in Maiden finals. Bluey seems to have the most amount of early speed in the race and should be ahead of Zac. He’s the second best in it and a big chance if Zac finds drama.
Race 5, Pilbara (6)
He hasn’t won for a while but he’s been in stronger fields than he meets tonight. He’s riding for luck for the first 50m but after that he’ll only be making ground. Better chance than his current quote of $8.5 suggests!
Race 7, Kuro Kismet (4)
As Matt said above, he’s well drawn and you’d expect him to relish the extra 80 metres (or further in his case as a mid-tracker). Whatever I Say is the danger but with clear runs she’s unlikely to go quicker than Kuro Kismet.
