“So while he won’t have raced for four weeks, he will be exactly where we need him.”
Muscle Mountain also finds himself in the rare position of having a handy frontline draw in the mobile 2600m, as he so often races in handicap races or is drawn wide in preferential-draw mobiles.
“A good draw was the one thing I was really hoping for and from five, we will be able to use his gate speed,” Ben Hope said.
Even with second-favourite Eurostyle drawn directly to his inside, most punters will expect him to lead and therefore be the one to beat.
The TAB bookies definitely do, with Muscle Mountain opening as the $1.80 final-field favourite over Eurostyle at $4.20 (soon into $3.70) and the favourite’s stablemate Mr Love at $4.40.
The stable expects a better performance from Mr Love tonight, after he disappointed when running fifth in the Lamb And Hayward, Hope said.
“He was fresh-up that night and the track was actually a little harder than he likes because they had sealed it because of the rain that was forecast.
“So we know he can go better than that but both he and Midnight Dash rank behind Muscle Mountain.”
While Muscle Mountain could even tighten in the market, a far more intriguing puzzle and probably race-of-the-night honours will be a $19,000 mid-grade pace featuring some of our most exciting horses.
Carded as Race 7, it sees the return of both last season’s champion juvenile Jumal, as well as The Lazarus Effect, the pair up against the talented Sonofamistery.
Jumal and The Lazarus Effect met in a two-horse trial at Rangiora on February 11 and hit the line together, The Lazarus Effect just winning after leading.
They are both stars in their own right and the tactics adopted by their drivers could be crucial, as neither will want a brutal run to start their busy campaigns.
Which is why the words of Jumal’s trainer Steven Reid are crucial when he says tonight’s race is a chance to teach Jumal how to settle and sprint.
“It’s the old story, we want to win but we don’t want him to have a gutbuster to do it,” Reid said.
“So I have told Sam [Ottley, driver] I am happy for her to get cover at the start and let him run home hard.
“I actually reckon that is ultimately how we will see the best of him and I think he can still win doing that, albeit probably not if The Lazarus Effect gets the front then comes home [800m] in 55 seconds.
“But I think to be driven in it will be good for him and I don’t think we need to be going too hard, too soon this week, because he is still a race or two away from his peak.”
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.
