Eight-time Western Australian premier trainer Ross Olivieri declares that stable newcomer The Dali Express has the ability to make a successful Gloucester Park debut by winning the $25,000 Garrards Horse And Hound BOTRA Cup on Friday night.
“He does jump up in class, but I have set him for this race and I think he is a very good chance,” said Olivieri, whose only success in the BOTRA Cup was in March 1991 when Speedy Cheval, driven by Peter Schrader and starting off the 30m mark, defeated Terres Chips and My Current Account.
The Dali Express, a New Zealand-bred five-year-old raced by the Merv Butterworth syndicate, had raced exclusively in mobiles at his 33 starts before arriving in WA. But Olivieri says that the black gelding is a natural standing-start pacer.
“We qualified him in a Byford trial to contest standing-start races and then we gave him his first start for the stable in a 2631m stand at Pinjarra three Mondays ago when he started off 30m and won in good style, coming home in 27.7sec. and 28.2sec.,” Olivieri said.
“He needed the run and is sure to have improved. This week, we’d like him to jump to the front from the No. 1 barrier. He’s the sort of horse who rolls along, which should make it a little more difficult for horses off handicaps.”
Olivieri said it was time he ended a 28-year drought by winning the BOTRA Cup for the second time. “Speedy Cheval was a very good horse who won the 1991 Fremantle Cup and was successful in the final event at Richmond Raceway in April 1991.”
The Dali Express will be driven by Chris Lewis, who has been successful in the BOTRA Cup four times, scoring with Village Kid (1985), Elteei (1986), Mach Ruler (2009) and Tartary Gladiator (2011).
Lewis drove the Butterworth-owned and Olivieri-trained Motu Premier when the gelding started off 40m and was favourite at 2/1 in last year’s BOTRA Cup. Motu Premier finished strongly from eighth at the bell to finish third behind the 50m backmarker The Bucket List and Always Arjay.
The Dali Express, by American stallion Dali, raced ten times in New Zealand for one win and one second placing before having 23 starts in South Australia for 11 wins, seven seconds, three thirds and two fourths.
Most of The Dali Express’s rivals in this weeks Cup are experienced standing-start performers, including frontmarker Jus Livintghedream, a nine-year-old and veteran of 160 starts. He will be driven by Michael Grantham for his uncle, Blythewood trainer Michael Brennan.
The Brennan-Grantham combination won last year’s BOTRA Cup when eight-year-old The Bucket List was tenth at the bell before storming home, five wide from the rear at the 400m to hit the front 110m from the post. Brennan also won the 2016 BOTRA Cup, with Gary Hall jun. making the most of the running with 5/1 chance Naughty Maravu, who beat Our Sky Major and Im Master Charlie (also trained by Brennan)
Shannon Suvaljko, who has been placed three times in the BOTRA Cup, is upbeat about the prospects of The Midas Touch, a smart five-year-old trained by Robert Flannery.
The Midas Touch will be having his 62nd start in a race and his first in a stand. He qualified for a start in a stand with a brilliant performance in a Byford trial three Sundays ago when he revealed dazzling speed from barrier five off the front. “He was really quick out and we ran the first 400m in 27sec. before I eased him out of the trial,” Suvaljko said. “Before that, we jumped him out successfully in a stand on the track.”
Then, two Sundays ago, The Midas Touch began speedily in a mobile trial at Byford, set the pace and won in impressive fashion. He resumed racing after a two-month absence at Gloucester Park last Saturday night when he started from the outside of the back line, raced three back on the pegs and finished a sound fifth behind Our Corelli.
The Dali Express and The Midas Touch are sure to be fully tested by four-year-old Fizzing, the youngest runner in the race and the solitary backmarker off 30m.
Fizzing, who finished third behind stablemates Ana Malak and Mighty Conqueror in the group 1 Gold Nugget last December, has been given a specialised program leading up to the BOTRA Cup. His past six starts have been in stands at Pinjarra and he has impressed greatly in recording four wins and two seconds off back marks.
He gave a splendid performance on Monday this week when he started off 50m and was seventh at the bell before sprinting strongly with final quarters of 28.6sec. and 28.2sec. to beat Bettor Party by three lengths at a 1.57.4 rate over 2631m.
