Trainer Mark Purdon and most punters want the same thing from Akuta’s comeback at Alexandra Park tonight.
They probably just want it delivered in different ways.
The one-time superstar of New Zealand racing returns tonight after 20 months away from the racetrack, his career all but ended by a splittendon in his leg.
If it wasn’t for a very detailed rehabilitation plan put in place by veterinarian Barbara Hunter, who is now also Purdon’s fiancee, the champion trainer says Akuta wouldn’t be back at the track tonight.
“When it happened he was given a 10% chance of racing again,” says Purdon.
“But Barb put a really detailed plan in place and part of that was once it was healing, to keep it that region stretched and active.
“So he spent time being ridden and then he has been wonderfully looked after by Tony Shaw, who now has a share in the horse as our way of saying thank you for all the work he has done with him.”
Race of the Week.
So can punters back the former Auckland Cup winner with confidence tonight?
“Well, he seems very sound and has handled everything well so far,” explains Purdon.
“He is working like a good horse should and on class you would think he could have their measure.”
However, Purdon has been doing this for long enough to know the easiest way to undo a campaign is to start it by giving a horse a headache.
Which brings us to tonight’s tactics from the outside of the front line over 1700m with junior driver Brooke Wilkins, her junior concession allowing Akuta to start in the race.
Punters who take the short odds would love to see Akuta race forward, wrest the lead and blow his rivals away as a former Taylor Mile winner should in a mid-grade sprint.
After all, punters taking short odds love an easy watch.
“The problem with going forward is if he doesn’t work out it is hard to have a Plan B,” says Purdon.
“I’d hate to see him have a hard run and be finishing on his hands and knees in his first race in so long.
“It will be up to Brooke to drive him how he feels and how the race looks, but if he has any luck he should probably win anyway.”
That is true but even tonight’s rivals who are rated 20-40 points below Akuta are capable of pacing a 1:53 mile rate or quicker for 1700m.
Whether Akuta is actually a sensible bet will come down to final price, with the opening TAB quote of $1.35 too short to be value.
Purdon and his son Nathan are in the perfect position to rate the opposition as they also train Treacherous Baby, who looks one of Akuta’s main rivals.
“As good a mare as she is, it would be hard to see her beating him,” says Purdon.
The stable also has two reps in Race 2 tonight, with little between River (No.1) and debutant Georgie Best (No.6).
“There wouldn’t be much between them but they were supposed to go in a two-year-old race that didn’t get off the ground so they have to take on the older horses.
“River will be hard to beat and with her draw might be slightly the better chance but I would prefer to see her driven with cover, being a two-year-old filly against the older horses.
“But if the colt [Georgie Best] can get in front of her and even around to the lead he would be really hard to beat.”
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
