By Adam Hamilton
Champion trainer Barry Purdon is excited but wary heading into his latest Aussie raid.
Purdon and co-trainer Scott Phelan will unleash the first two – Better Knuckle Up and Sooner The Bettor – of three stable stars they have sent across the ditch at Menangle on Saturday night.
The third, and recently-crowned New Zealand Pacer of the Year Merlin, will wait another week to open his assault in a 2300m free-for-all at Menangle.
The trio arrived in Sydney last Sunday, accompanied by Phelan, and have thrived at Paul Fitzpatrick’s stables.
“Scotty said they licked their bins the first night, which is a great sign,” Purdon said.
Better Knuckle Up has the most important task on Saturday night when he tackles the $50,000 Group 3 Hondo Grattan, a qualifier for the Group 1 Chariots Of Fire.
He has drawn eight, but will move down to gate six if the emergencies are scratched.
It’s a hot field with TAB Eureka runner-up Bay Of Biscay drawn one and other class runners like The Bigboss (five), War Dan Buddy (seven), Kingman (10) and Soho Spectre (11).
Adding to the Kiwi flavour, We Walk By Faith has drawn alongside Better Knuckle Up in gate nine for trainers Hayden and Amanda Cullen.
We Walk By Faith, winner of his past two starts, won a heat of the NSW Derby at Menangle last year when trained by Mark and Nathan Purdon. He then ran sixth in the final.
Barry Purdon expects Better Knuckle Up to be very competitive.
“He wasn’t far behind Cold Chisel at home. He’s got a lot of speed and we rate him. He should be suited to the Aussie style of racing,” he said.
“It’s just hard to get a line on the Aussie form until you meet them.”
The ultra consistent Sooner The Bettor returns to Menangle where he ran four fantastic races this time last year, including seconds in the Miracle Mile and Chariots Of Fire.
“He thrived over there last time and hasn’t done anything wrong in between, so he’s earned another crack,” Purdon said.
Sooner The Bettor also faces a strong line-up in a 1609m free-for-all on Saturday night.
Hunter Cup eye-catchers Max Delight (gate seven) and Captains Knock (eight) are there, along with Jason Grimson’s emerging former Kiwi pacer Im The Falcon (four).
Sooner The Bettor has the gate speed to take advantage and get a forward spot from barrier five.
He will go towards one of the two qualifying sprints for the Miracle Mile at Menangle on March 1.
Merlin is headed there, too, but via next week’s 2300m race.
“Merlin’s really well. We know what a strong crop of open class horses it is at the moment, but it will be great to be part of it again,” Purdon said.
“Like everyone, we’ll have our fingers crossed for good barrier draws.
“It was encouraging to see Don’t Stop Dreaming run so well last weekend, he’s pretty similar to Merlin at his best.”
Don’t Stop Dreaming was second to Aussie superstar Leap To Fame in last Saturday night’s $100,000 Cranbourne Cup.
