Dougs Platter Photo by Stuart McCormick
NSW trainer Kevin Pizzuto says his TAB Eureka hopeful Dougs Platter is the best pacer he's trained since the mighty Tiger Tara.
And he's aiming at the $350,000 Group 1 Rising Sun at Albion Park on July 13 before the $2.1mil TAB Eureka at Menangle on September 7.
"It was such a great ride for those three years or so with 'Tiger', and I've been waiting for a really good one since. I've found one in Dougs Platter," Pizzuto said.
"He's certainly the best I've had since 'Tiger'. He might not be as strong as few are, but he's faster, and he's shown that in the five runs he'd had for me."
Tiger Tara was Australia's pin-up pacer between 2017-19 with 37 wins – including an Inter Dominion and Hunter Cup and almost $2.4 million in prize money.
Dougs Platter was bought by US-based owners Gordon Banks and Marc Hanover with a specific view towards the TAB Eureka.
After showing plenty of promise in Victoria with Geoff Webster, Dougs Platter joined Pizzuto's barn early this year and narrowly missed qualifying for the Chariots Of Fire.
"He ran well from awful draws in his two qualifiers (for the Chariots) and smashed the clock both times, but it took me a while to work him out," Pizzuto said.
"He'd go rough and get on a leg, but I sorted him out, and he won his next three runs at Menangle for me."
"I put him out after those wins, and we've got everything focused on the TAB Eureka now, but taking him to Queensland fits with the build-up, and the Rising Sun is a nice race itself."
According to Pizzuto, Dougs Platter is "about two weeks" away from a trial.
"He'll be racing mid to late June and probably have a couple of runs at Menangle before he goes to Queensland," the trainer said.
"I'm really happy with the way he's come back. Whatever he did in those first few runs for us, I knew he'd be better after a bit of a break, and everything says he is."
Pizzuto said the race for this year's TAB Eureka looked wide open.
"There's no standout, and I'm certainly not afraid of any of the horses they're talking about at the moment," he said.
"Once I've got this guy back up and firing, I'm sure he'll follow their speed and be right there at the finish. I'm looking forward to getting against the best ones so he can show how good he is."
