Sideshow Bruce to defend title but finding other gems not so easy

Jumal returns to Addington tonight a hot favourite in his Sires' Stakes Semi Final. Photo / Ajay Berry

Bob Butt knows he can win two of the majors at Addington tonight; however, his confidence levels vary.

Because Butt and most punters will be surprised if Sideshow Bruce doesn’t win the Betavet Uncut Gems Aged Pace, but the Commodore Hotel Aged Trot might be a tougher nut to crack for stablemate Roydon Muscle.

Sideshow Bruce returns to the race he won last season and, while he hasn’t raced that much since, he was a good fourth behind Marketplace in a hot race last Friday, suggesting he is a New Zealand Cup horse in waiting.

He draws barrier 6 tonight and Butt says he will be looking to head forward at the start on the $1.60 chance, who is lifted to $2 with the Box Seat boost.

“I was rapt with how he went last week,” says Butt.

“This is a drop in class and, while it is still a good field, he is the horse to beat.”

The race isn’t a pushover job though, with Sacetas and Bruntwood Brigade in great winning form, stablemates Hadron Collider and Harrison John racing well and even Radha back in winning form.

As deep as that race is, the Uncut Gems Aged Trot is even hotter, with almost every starter having recent winning form, so manners and racing luck could decide it.
“It is a really good field and I think any of them can win it,” says Butt.

“But our fella [Roydon Muscle] has been set for this and, while he is off a 10m handicap, he steps well and should get handy quickly.”


The race is a beauty, with Tetrick opening favourite even though his front line advantage could disappear if he doesn’t begin quickly as a few around and behind him will.

Prestigious shares that front line and is getting better with every start, while the Dunn-trained pair of Rock Lobster and One Over Da Line could win without surprising in a race that also contains Nellie Doyle, Fiery Bandito and Princess Sadie.

The Cobbitty Farms Mares Uncut Gems is also even but perhaps without quite so many winning chances, with Ruby Roe the favourite but starting from the outside of the front line.

While the Uncut Gems and the Oliver Ryan And Family Canterbury Plains Final provide plenty of value opportunities for punters, tonight’s Garrards’ Sires’ Stakes Semi Final will be all one-way traffic for multi bettors even though Jumal faces barrier 9.

The tactics could be the most interesting factor for the $1.28 chance, who most would like to see work his way to the front and win, but he could be wickedly explosive driving for speed.

Tonight’s other feature is the Studholme Bionic Chance Bracelet for the juvenile pacing fillies, with Wat Fun the deserved favourite from barrier 1 after looking to have inherited her family ability in her two starts for Hayden and Amanda Cullen.

This is a crop still very much in its infancy but with plenty of promise, so the favourites $2.05 is about as short as punters might want to logically take.

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.