Gold Coast trainer Peter Robl had every right to be disappointed when in-form six-year-old gelding Hadouken drew the outside gate in the $200,000 Darwin Cup (2050m) on Monday.
During Thursday’s barrier draw at Fannie Bay, a representative randomly selected the gate for their horse and unfortunately Hadouken’s name was the last to appear.
With the Cup accommodating 12 starters and three emergencies, barrier 15 was the last available.
The son of Real Impact, who will jump from gate 12, won’t find it easy despite lumping just 54kg and winning two races from as many starts in the Top End.
“Everything had been going well until the Cup draw, it wasn’t kind to us,” Robl said.
“At the end of the day there’s nothing we can do about it, it’s not ideal, but we’ve got to make the best out of the situation.”
Hadouken, the winner of seven races from 34 starts, arrived in the NT due to persistent wet tracks in south-east Queensland and the far northern regions of NSW.
He was a first up winner at Fannie Bay over 1600m (BM66) on July 6 before backing up two weeks later in the Buntine Handicap (2050m).
“He’ll run extremely well, he’s done really well since the Buntine,” he said.
“He’s an on-speed horse which overcomes the barrier draw to a certain extent, so naturally he does have that early gate speed.
“He’s not going to have to be ridden out of his comfort zone to go forward and get across, which is one positive.
“We haven’t come all the way to Darwin to just give him a run in the Cup, he’ll go forward and leave nothing in the tank.
“Looking through the field there’s probably only three or four horses that realistically have enough gate speed to go berserk early.
“They go hard here, so it may just open up a spot for him behind the speed.”
Robl agreed that Neil Dyer’s Bear Story – the current $2.15 Cup favourite with online bookmakers – would be hard to beat following his impressive win in the Chief Minister’s Cup (1600m).
However, he believes Gary Clarke’s Wolfburn ($3.80), second behind Bear Story in the Chief Minister’s Cup before taking out the Metric Mile (1600m) last Saturday, was a serious threat come Monday.
“I don’t think barrier one is suitable for Bear Story, especially if they go quick,” Robl said.
“He could possibly find himself three back on the fence, which is not an ideal spot to be in Darwin on that track.
“For Neil to avoid that, he’ll probably have to ride him out of his comfort zone with 61kg on his back.
“Wolfburn is a solid handicapper, he races on-speed, he has 56.5kg, barrier five, and runs well every time Gary sends him out.
“I think Neil’s Hettinger is the smokie in the field, he’s a horse that could just park midfield or a touch worse before getting over the top that last furlong.”
Robl has secured leading Sydney jockey Tyler Schiller, who saluted on the Les Bridge-trained Celestial Legend in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) in April, to partner Hadouken in the Darwin Cup.
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