Seven-year-old Otis, a winner of 13 races, has a losing sequence of 24 and has been unplaced at his past eight starts. But his trainer-reinsman Dylan Egerton-Green is bullish about his winning prospects when he begins from the coveted No. 1 barrier in the $27,000 TABtouch Scan My Bet Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Otis has begun from barrier one only three times from his 60 starts in a mobile event --- and he has yet to win from that barrier.
“He gets his chance this week,” said Egerton-Green. “He loves leading, and that will be the plan on Friday night.”
Otis started from the No. 1 barrier in a 2130m event on September 13, 2024, when he was the $1.90 favourite who set the pace and finished a close third behind Carana and Arma Xfactor. Then on April 11 this year in the 2130m Governor’s Cup he finished second to Mister Smartee after leading early and then sitting behind that pacer.
Two weeks after that event Otis began from barrier one in the Nullarbor slot race when he trailed the pacemaker Minstrel and was hampered for room in the home straight when sixth behind Mister Smartee, Gee Heza Sport, Minstrel, Swayzee and Mighty Ronaldo.
His recent form has been reasonable, with a fourth placing behind Magnificent Storm and a seventh and an eighth behind that star pacer at his past two outings, after finishing solidly into fifth place behind Mighty Ronaldo three starts ago.
He will appreciate a considerable drop in class on Friday night when his toughest rival is sure to be the Greg and Skye Bond-trained Lusaka, who is racing keenly and has bright prospects of overcoming the wide barrier at No. 8 and chalking up his 17TH victory at his 51ST start.
“Eight is a bad draw, but this is a drop in class for Lusaka,” said driver Deni Roberts, who has excellent winning prospects with other Bond-trained pacers Aardiebytheseaside, Bettor Fortune and Slay Queen.
