Dean Braun will be hopeing for a big weekend with runners in two states.
Dean Braun will have a busy weekend on his hands with horses all over the place in the coming days.
His runners kick-off at Cranbourne tonight, followed by a two-state attack on feature races Saturday night.
It all serves a purpose though, with this weekend’s assault set to culminate in a massive two-week period in New South Wales later this month.
Two of those headed on different but perhaps similar paths are Im Corzin Terror and Mustang Mach who currently hold sway with punters in Saturday’s Terang Co-op Pacing Cup with the
TAB fixed odds.While Braun found it hard to split the two, he explained that in terms of experience he was more comfortable putting Chris Alford on the second favourite.
“I put him on Mustang Mach, he’s the best option for a horse who is proven at that level where as Im Corzin Terror is still on the way up,” Braun said.
“I think this time next year Im Corzin Terror will be an M5 type horse but the other one (Mustang Mach) has been there and done it, he’s proven at this level whereas Im Corzin Terror has still got to get there. In saying that, he couldn’t have done any more than he’s been doing.”
It will likely be a race of tactics with Im Corzin Terror drawing the front line and possessing enough early speed to be prominent.
Mustang Mach on the other hand was graded as ODM following his unruly display at the start of the PETstock Ballarat Cup.
“We just gave him a little freshen up after Ballarat so hopefully he’ll run a much improved race on Saturday night,” Braun said.
“Mustang Mach will definitely go to the Inter heats but Corzin Terror will head up for an M1-2 series the same night that the heats are on.”
Another horse Braun is toying with the idea of taking to New South Wales is Magical Telf. The New Zealand bred son of Live Or Die will first tackle the Decron Horse Care Tontine Pacers series which kicks off at Terang.
“He’s a really nice horse with a pretty bright future I think. What he did last season was just on raw ability and he seems to have switched on a bit more this time in,” he said.
“We were going to go to the Chariots of Fire but we’ll just see what happens. I don’t think we can beat Smolda and Restrepo but in saying that I don’t think we are that far behind them either.
“He got home really well in his trial and he wasn’t pushed out. Chris (Alford) was really happy with him and thought he was bang on target so let’s hope he is a good judge.”
Also on Saturday night, Itz Nosurprisesthere will take her tricky name all the way to Menangle for the Group 3 Harness Breeders NSW Raith Memorial.
She comes off a limited but successful Kiwi career where she was a winner of two from six and placed in another two.
“She’s a really nice filly, I haven’t had her that long so we are still trying to work her out,” Braun said.
“We brought her with the New South Wales Oaks as her primary target and then we will work out whether we go to Queensland or Western Australia maybe.
“She probably isn’t ready but there’s a $40,000 race this week so hopefully we can get some of their money before the Oaks heat. “
Laterron will also make the trek up and after showing plenty of ability she has just failed to win a race in recent times. Braun has, however, always thought she would be worth the trip north and believes there have been genuine excuses for her.
“We’ve had it in mind for a while but she hasn’t been going quite as well as we would hope,” he said.
“She’s had some excuses but there’s no doubt she would have to improve to be winning Saturday night. In saying that, she does have good gate speed so she should be able to hold a position.”
In all, this weekend looks a pivotal weekend for the Lara-based trainer’s team as we head into a massive month of racing.
Mustang Mach remains at $51
fixed odds to win the Inter Dominion final with the TAB.
