It’s the St Patrick’s Day Cup at Fannie Bay on Saturday, but leading Darwin trainer Gary Clarke is already planning for the Katherine Cup in August with Influential Jack.
The six-year-old gelding might be the top weight in the 1600m feature this weekend, but Clarke purchased the son of Epaulette for one reason.
“I purchased him from the Inglis Online Sales with his end goal mainly being the Katherine Cup,” he said.
“That’s the reason we purchased him for.
“We put him straight into the paddock when we bought him, gave him a break and he’s come back.
“I’m just giving him a prep now to try and work him all out before the Katherine Cup comes around.”
After achieving stunning success during the 2022 Darwin Cup Carnival, Clarke then won the Katherine Cup (1700m) with Vallabar – who finished third behind Playoffs and Kaonic in last year’s Darwin Cup (2050m).
Clarke will be aiming to go back-to-back in the St Patrick’s Day Cup, one of two $40,000 races in Darwin outside Cup Carnival, after Count Of Essex saluted with Jarrod Todd in the saddle before heading south to take out the $110,000 Alice Springs Cup (2000m) in May.
The previous year, the Garry Lefoe-trained I Am The Fox won the St Patrick’s Day Cup at Fannie Bay before winning the Alice Springs Cup.
Should Influential Jack (Todd) prevail on Saturday, Clarke stressed that it was unlikely he would take the former Victorian galloper to the Red Centre.
“I’ll just pace him, I won’t over race him, once I work him out I’ll just tread water with him,” he said.
“Just race him every now and then and hopefully he’ll be all good to go when the Katherine Cup comes around.
“If I followed the path I took with Count Of Essex with this horse then by the time Katherine Cup came around he’d be carrying something like 66kg.”
Highly competitive in Melbourne and Adelaide, Influential Jack had 32 starts for four wins and nine placings in Victoria and South Australia for trainers Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra.
His wins came in a 1500m Cranbourne maiden and over 1469m (BM64) at Kyneton before two victories at Geelong over 1425m (BM64) and 1400m (BM70).
Influential Jack’s last start down south was at Murray Bridge last August, where he finished sixth over 1400m (BM76), before a first-up third in Darwin behind Poupee and Noir De Rue over 1300m (BM76) on March 4.
“We’ve brought him up nice and slow – he did take a while for his coat and everything to come through,” Clarke said.
“I was really happy with that first start, but I’m very pleased with where he’s at now.
“He was only in a 1300m race the other day – he’s more of a 1500 or 1600m horse.
“The two that finished in front of him in the 1300, they’re not in his race on Saturday.
“Just to do what he did over 1300 in his first start on the track impressed me.
“The two horses that beat him home – Poupee and Noir De Rue – they’re two pretty talented horses.”
The St Patrick’s Day Cup, a $40,000 race along with the Wet Season Series Final (1200m) on Australia Day, has assembled a very even field with the Clarke and Phil Cole stables represented by seven of the 10 starters.
Apart from Influential Jack, Clarke’s other runners are Siakam (Paul Denton), Raazou (Casey Hunter) and Skellig Island (Ianish Luximon), and he is confident they will run well.
“The one that probably works the best out of the whole bunch is Skellig Island, but he just never takes it to the races,” Clarke said.
“I’ll be happy if either one of them puts their hand up and wins.”
Cole’s starters are Charretera (Vanessa Arnott), Brother Bassy (Wayne Davis) and Meadows Young Buck (Emma Lines).
The other starters are Jo Banks’ Sweet Cheval (Jade Hampson), the only last-start winner in the race who has drawn the outside gate, Mark Nyhan’s Halogem (Sonja Wiseman) and Chloe Baxter’s To The Point (Stan Tsaikos).
“It’s a very even race, which is fitting as it’s one of the big days outside Cup Carnival,” Clarke said.
“A couple of the chances that have got the bigger weights they’re sort of evened up by a couple of the probably lesser chances that have got a light weight.
“It brings them all in pretty close.
“There’s a light weight horse in there that’s been going not too bad – Phil’s Meadows Young Buck.
“It’s only 54kg on his back and although he hasn’t had a win he has been placed in his past five starts.”
Meanwhile, it’s also the eighth and final heat of the Summer Sprint Series on Saturday, but the 2022/23 winner has been decided with Chris Pollard’s Cudjerie (24 points) picking up the $4000 prize for connections from Cole’s El Magnificence (20) and Brazenpine (12), and Clarke’s Papalet (12).
Clarke’s Mr Cashman (11), Cole’s Saccharo (3) and Colhoun (3), and Tayarn Halter’s I Am The Fox (1) will contest Heat 8 – a $25,000 open handicap over 1300m – along with Halter’s Karaoke Express, who hasn’t contested a heat.
Previous winners of the Summer Sprint Series include Halter’s Eastwood (2019/20), Pollard’s Twilight Maneouvre (2020/21), and Mighty Murt (2021/22).
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