Gary Elson has fond memories of winning the 2010 WA Derby as an owner with 9/1 chance Crombie and now he has high hopes of winning the $200,000 Sky Racing classic at Gloucester Park on Friday night as a trainer with either Ideal Tyson or Sprinter.
He has a high opinion of both three-year-olds and has a slight leaning towards Ideal Tyson after the colt drew the prized No. 1 barrier, with Sprinter faring badly, drawing out wide at barrier eight.
There is no obvious leader in the 2536m classic. But Elson declared that he would instruct Aiden de Campo to attempt to take advantage of the inside draw by setting the pace.
I wish Sprinter had drawn a bit closer, but he can still win,” he said. “Obviously we will try to lead with Ideal Tyson and if he leads we won’t be handing up to Lets Chase The Dream, just because he’s the favourite.
People are saying that Ideal Tyson is a risk from barrier one because he broke soon after the start of the Golden Slipper last year when he began from the inside barrier. He had a bone chip in his off hind leg, and that was the reason why he broke. He’s now as good as gold.”
After breaking into a gallop in the Golden Slipper Ideal Tyson, the 2/1 on favourite, worked hard outside the pacemaker Dodolicious and finished fifth behind Sprinter, who started at 11/1 from barrier six and charged home from 11th at the bell (and fifth on the home turn) to win by just under two lengths from Dodolicious.
Elson said that Sprinter, a winner at ten of his 17 starts and to be driven by Nathan Turvey, could not be ruled out of calculations because of his wide barrier. “I know how much ability he’s got and he can mix it with the best of them,” Elson said. “He makes his own luck and the side draw will not be a concern for Nathan.
“Sprinter drew off the track in the Victoria Derby at Melton and he finished eighth after running the quickest last half-mile of all the runners. He started from barrier eight in the New South Wales Derby and made up a lot of ground to finish fifth after running the fastest last half-mile of all the runners.”
Sprinter ran a splendid trial for the Derby when he trailed the pacemaker The Art Form before running home solidly to be a half-length second to Chicago Bull in the 2536m Western Gateway Pace last Friday week. The final quarters whizzed by in 28.4sec. and 27.8sec.
Ideal Tyson also warmed up for the classic in fine style last Friday night when he started from the No. 5 barrier and raced in sixth position in the one-wide line before being switched five wide at the 400m and running home strongly into third place behind Lets Chase The Dream and Mach Time in a 2130m Derby prelude.
In a 2185m trial at Byford the previous Sunday Ideal Tyson showed his liking for the No. 1 barrier when he set the pace and rated 1.55.9 in winning the trial by more than three lengths after dashing over the final three quarters in 29.6sec., 29.1sec. and 27.9sec.
Ken Casellas