This year’s TAB Inter Dominion is shaping like no other.
In the past few years the star power at the top end has been irresistible: We’ve been blessed with the likes of Lazarus, Lennytheshark and Smolda just to name a few.
And that meant that before the series had started most knew roughly how it was going to shake out come finals night.
The same can’t be said for ID18. Connections of horses that sit outside the top three and even top 10 seeds for the series would still be holding genuine hopes of being competitive in a fortnight’s time.
One horse which comes into the race with some left-field form is Mach Doro.
Victorian’s might be quick to dismiss him after a down-the-track effort in the Pryde's EasiFeed Victoria Cup but he worked hard early and after not finding the pegs his chances were effectively over.
Regular driver Luke McCarthy explained how favorable this week’s gate one barrier draw has been.
“I’m pretty excited that on Saturday night I’ll be able to leave the gate on the bit with him,” McCarthy said.
“The Victoria Cup didn’t work out for him and with the way the conditioned racing works at Menangle he’s been drawing tough barriers and we’ve had to really use him hard off the arm to make sure he gets to the pegs.
“Being able to come out neutral and get the perfect run on paper on Saturday night means that this looks his chance to measure up and we’re expecting him to be in the finish.”
The task will not be an easy one but there is some supporting evidence that the son of Mach Three can be a factor through the series.
He defeated series favourite Tiger Tara four starts back on their home digs and while an argument could be made that the latter was still building into his preparation; it’s still a performance worth noting.
McCarthy will also drive Cash N Flow and again the barrier draw gods have been kind with the polemarking draw.
“His run in the Geelong Cup was OK. I did have to use him mid-race and we probably don’t know quite how good Buster Brady is yet so it might look a lot better in hindsight,” he said.
“If Cruz Bromac comes out as quickly, as he can, then I should be able to hold-up behind him and get every chance from there.”
Blake Redden