Enigmatic pacer Condrieu, unplaced at his past eight starts, gets his chance to break through for a win when he starts from the favourable No. 2 barrier in the Clipsal and Schneider Electric Life Is On Us Pace over 1730m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The New Zealand-bred seven-year-old is a noted frontrunner, having won at 11 of his 16 Australian victories after setting the pace. Therefore, there is little doubt that Ryan Warwick will attempt to steal a vital march on the opposition by charging to the front when the mobile barrier releases the field.
Condrieu is a smart sprinter, having won twice over 1609m (in 1.51.5 and 1.52.4) at Menangle last year. He was a 50/1 chance when he was restrained at the start from barrier seven and fought on from ninth at the bell to finish seventh behind Our Jimmy Johnstone in the 2130m Governor’s Cup last Friday night.
The Colin Joss-trained Lagoon Stride has a losing sequence of 20 and has dropped back to an M1 classification. From the prized No. 1 barrier he gets an ideal chance to prove his worth.
Red Salute, who trailed the pacemaking Our Jimmy Johnstone and ran home solidly to finish second to that pacer last week, has drawn out wide at barrier eight. However, trainer Ross Olivieri is quietly confident the eight-year-old will perform strongly.
“Maybe the wheel is turning for him, but barrier eight is not great,” Olivieri said. “He’s on the improve after I changed his training around a bit. He might be known as a frontrunner, but he’s quite quick and can come from behind. There’s hardly a horse at Byford who can beat him on the track.”
Lauren Jones is expected to send veteran Shardons Rocket forward from barrier seven in the early stages and the oldstager should be in the firing line all the way over the sprint trip.
