Racing: Dark Destroyer ready to rejoin the chase in sprint

Dark Destroyer winning the Tarzino Trophy

When the forgotten hero of the New Zealand racing season returns this Saturday where he finishes won’t be important.

Because while that may not be how punters feel about Dark Destroyer, trainers Andrew Scott and Lance O’Sullivan have to look at his comeback in the A$300,000 Ladbrokes BRC Sprint that way.

“This week is about his performance, not his actual final placing,” says Scott, who is in Queensland with the stable’s small team.

“He has been away from racing for such a long time and meets serious horses fresh up so we want to see how he goes rather than trying to name a finishing position that we would rate as a pass mark.” Dark Destroyer hasn’t started since winning the first group 1 of the New Zealand season, the Tarzino Trophy at Hastings on September 10.

That victory over subsequent three-time group 1 winner Imperatriz, La Crique and Spring Tide suggested Dark Destroyer was in for a great season but he was struck down by a virus soon after that robbed him of most of his spring, all of his summer and the majority of the autumn.

“It hit him hard and took him ages to recover so we set our sights on this carnival,” explains Scott.

“He raced so well here last year but we are coming here with different aims this time.

“We want to get him a couple of races on good ground and let him tell us where he is at and whether he is a sprinter-miler or maybe even a 2000m horse for the spring.”

As classy as Dark Destroyer is Scott surprisingly rates the stable’s other BRC Sprint runner Dragon Leap as their better chance, even from a very wide barrier.

“He was run off his feet over the 1200m last start so the step up to 1350m will help and we think he can go a far better race, he is definitely improved with that run.”

Dragon Leap will be ridden by Opie Bosson who will also partner Cambridge filly Sakura Girl in the next race, the A$300,000 The Roses in which she had drawn almost perfectly at barrier 6.

She is now the $5 second favourite behind the Bjorn Baker-trained Renaissance Woman, the daughter of Reliable Man who is looking to add to the remarkable record of New Zealand-breds in Australia this season.

After a slower than usual start to the Queensland carnival the New Zealand challenge heats up this Saturday, albeit mainly with horses now trained in Australia, headlined by Atishu, No Compromise, Bankers Choice and the surprise of the autumn in New South Wales, former Southland galloper Palmetto.

They all take on A$10million earner Zaaki in Saturday’s feature the A$1million Doomben Cup.

Back in New Zealand, Scott says he and O’Sullivan are expecting good things from a stable debutante at Te Rapa.

“We have a mare called Serena’s Spirit having her first start for us and we think she can win a race pretty soon,” says Scott.