Wednesday 25th March 2015 – Matt Rue admits he is going to need more than his fair share of luck to win either of the harness racing two year old features at Bathurst this Saturday night. Rue trains Lettuce Reign, the Paul Kahledfeldt owned filly that qualified for the Slingsby Holdings Gold Tiara while he will drive Karloo Damajor for trainer Peter Gavin and owners Barry and Ronda Lew in the Alabar Gold Crown.
"Lettuce Reign needed a good draw to help her qualify for the Tiara and used the barrier perfectly to get through to the Gr. 1 final but drawing barrier eight in the final is going to make it very tough for her," Rue said.
"It was a bit different with Karloo Damajor. He has drawn nine and will start from the inside of the second row, but at the barrier draw function he was one of the first horses to get a barrier and initially I was very disappointed. However, the way the rest of the draw panned out it isn't that bad."
Lettuce Reign has taken a lot of coaxing and training to get her to the races and Rue is proud of the achievement.
"She has basically been with me since I arrived home from the USA but it has taken a lot of persistence to get her to the races."
"She wouldn't work left handed at first so I had to work her right handed for a couple of months and it got to the stage where I just had to try and get her to go left handed otherwise she wasn't going to be ready for the Tiara."
Rue believes Lettuce Reign has plenty of improvement in her and will be an improved three year old. It could be the same story with Karloo Damajor with Rue confirming the son of Art Major is still learning what racing is all about.
"Trainer Peter Gavin told me before his first start that he was pretty green and everything has happened pretty quickly with him."
"Karloo Damajor got crossed in his heat down the back the final time by Charlaval but Kerry Ann Turner's horse moved very quickly and had a huge turn of foot so I was pretty proud of Karloo Damajor to come back and beat him in the straight."
With Bettermatch drawn outside Machamillion on the front row there is a distinct possibility that Karloo Damajor could settle three back on the pegs.
"If he ended up three back I think he has a knockout winning chance and a really strong place chance, hopefully we get a bit of luck when we need it."
Rue also trains the first emergency Fouroeight in the Alabar Bathurst Gold Crown and if he fails to get a start in the Gr. 1 he does look a very strong chance in the consolation.
"He has drawn two in the consolation as well. He is a big horse, he actually looks more like a three year old now than a two year old."
"He went 1:56.5 running third in his heat behind Shadow Runner and I actually think that was a quicker time than any other heat winner so he's a nice horse and still has the Breeders Challenge to come after this."
Greg Hayes | Media Coordinator | Harness Racing New South Wales |