Racing: Purdon plans dream start for run in Auckland

Chase A Dream makes his Auckland debut on Friday.

Punters need not worry about the usual Alexandra Park hoodoo when one of the more dramatic winners of last season makes his Auckland debut tonight.

Chase A Dream produced a jaw-dropping performance to come from last and win the Sires Stakes Final at Addington on Cup Day, making up around eight lengths in the last 400m in one of those “you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it” moments.

He hasn’t raced since but starts his three-year-old season as the $2 favourite in a talent-crammed Race 7 tonight, with the smart young pacers of both sexes preparing for the Harness Millions meeting next Friday.

While Chase A Dream is clearly very good, plenty of South Island-trained horses have been tripped up by Alexandra Park on debut. But co-trainer Mark Purdon doesn’t expect that to be an issue.

“He is actually the other way,” says Purdon.

“He was a hard horse to get going left-handed but right from the time we started fast working him he didn’t need any gear right-handed so I think he will love it up here.”

Chase A Dream has had the benefit of two trials and thrashed stablemates Vessem and Treacherous Baby, both of which start tonight, in the latest of those trials.

“He will be more forward than Vessem and our best chance.”

Treacherous Baby is a good hope in the very even fillies and mares race could be decided by whether Coastal Babe, which has been the best of this crop, wants to use her gate speed to go forward early.

If she does and leads she will be hard to beat after looking forward at the trials last week but it is a field so even almost any of her rivals can win.

Another stablemate, Madrid, should be able to break maidens in Race 4 if she can secure a good trip from one on the second line while Purdon is blunt about the chances of wonderful warrior Self Assured in the main pace.

“With us drawn outside Merlin, I think he will lead and probably beat us.”

Telfer mare chases Addington glory

Allamericanlover looks perfectly placed for her second career Group 1 win in the $110,000 Fahey Fence Hire Breeders Stakes at Addington.

The Team Telfer-trained mare was extraordinary winning the lead-up race two weeks ago and will only need to perform to that level to likely win again.

Her biggest danger should be northern mare Lady Of The Light, which was one-paced last start but drawn to lead tonight, which is where she has gone all her best races.

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.