Challenging: The Ian Gurney trio of Avonnova (pictured), Our Hi Jinx and Mach Alert all face difficult draws on the opening night of the TABTOUCH Inter Dominion series in Perth. Photo by Dan Costello (The Racing Wrap)
At first glance, it doesn’t look good.
But upon closer inspection, it’s not a total disaster.
This is the conundrum facing Queensland trainer Ian Gurney as he tackles the opening night of the TABTOUCH Inter Dominion series at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Gurney prepares talented trio in Avonnova, Our Hi Jinx and Mach Alert.
All three pacers are Group One winners and all three are ready to chase the richest prizemoney on offer on Australian soil but their campaigns may have been blunted when the fields were released yesterday (Tuesday).
“It wasn’t ideal when the numbers were drawn but at the end of the day, it’s only a starting point and now we’ve just got to gather as many points as possible to guarantee our spots in the final. I was a little disappointed for Nova when he landed ten because he hasn’t drawn a decent gate for some time but given the configuration, it’s not a bad draw.” Gurney said.
Recent Grand Circuit winner, Our Hi Jinx starts in the first heat and will score-up in gate 8 while local star Waylade has drawn ideally in gate 2.
In the second heat, Mach Alert faces a second-line draw and follows out local pacer Our Blackbird while series favourite Lennytheshark starts from gate 7.
Avonnova starts in the third heat and draws the same gate as Mach Alert, the inside of the second-line and follows out another local product in Lovers Delight while Bettors Fire (2), Mach Beauty (4) and Philadelphia Man (6) drew to advantage.
“When you start breaking down the draws for the opening round, not many interstate horses drew well so we’re all in the same boat and we all need that little bit of luck going our way. It will be fascinating to see how the drivers take on the heats because it’s a great mixture of local drivers against the visiting drivers and the styles are vastly different.
“I haven’t spoken with Shane (Graham – driver) just yet but I’m sure he won’t mind the second-line draws, the fact that only horse has the second-line gives you a bit of extra room. I suppose we need a solid speed in all of the heats to allow my horses a chance to run into it.
“I’m happy with how my guys have settled in over here; Nova went great in Melbourne and has trained on well since while the other two guys have bounced back following their disappointing efforts on the same night. I know what went wrong and hopefully I’ve turned them around for this series, this has been the main aim for some time.”
The first round of heats will be staged over 2130m and the track record belongs to recently retired star David Hercules at 1:53.6.
The 1609m second round heats will be held next Tuesday at Bunbury before returning to Gloucester Park next Friday for the final round of heats over the Grand Final distance of 2536m.
The $1.3 million Grand Final is scheduled for Sunday, December 13.
