By Michael Guerin
Republican Party’s poor draw in his Addington comeback race tonight comes with a saver.
Because co-trainer Cran Dalgety is confident the horse his rising three-year-old star has to beat in his R60-70 pace tonight Samhara is just as poorly off.
Republican Party was one of our best two-year-olds in the second half of last season, finishing third to Franco Indie in the three-year-old race on Cup Day before picking up two relatively easy summer kills then heading for a spell.
The Dalgetys put him aside and Cran says he will only return for two or three starts this time in to harden up and keep him mentally progressing before the second half of 2022 will present the real tests of the Derbys.
Republican Party has had two trials to prepare for his resumption and Dalgety says he is “trials fit, which means about as fit as you can get them without racing.”
So while fitness won’t be an issue Dalgety says the wide draw and being fresh up will see Dalgety suggest to driver Blair Orange that he be conservative early.
“They go so fast these days I don’t ideally want him going off the gate and working too hard so I think he will go back and give them a head start,” says Dalgety.
“That makes him very hard to tip but I do think the one he has to beat is Samhara and he is probably in the same boat so I can see us being back there together, so maybe it won’t be so bad.
“It might be a case of if we can beat Samhara, we can win.”
In the week Team Dalgety put stable star Krug in the paddock for a two-month spell Cran rates three of the stable’s other chances on Friday night as good chances.
“We have a filly in the stable called La Sabina who is in the first race and she is quite speedy,” says Dalgety.
“She has a wide draw and is up against one of the All Stars (Chambray) who has drawn well but I think she can get some money.
“And we have two of the favourites in the last in Mitsi Gaynor and Invitation Only and they both have good chances.
“Invitation Only is a big horse we think quite a bit of and he is working well so he will be hard to beat.”
The $17,500 feature pace tonight sees the in-form trio of Callies Delight, Shan Noble and Darling Me clash with so much dependant on who wants to take the race by the scruff of the neck at the start.
