Happy Valley comes back to the rail normal position on Wednesday night and that usually means on-pace and near the rail is the place to be.
In the two A track meetings this season at the Valley, only two winners came from outside the first three in running so we’ll be looking for well drawn and positional speed and Douglas Whyte looks to have several of those types of rides.
With Matt Chadwick suspended, Trainer Tony Cruz has called on Whyte to take over on Real Dragon, looking for three wins on end over the Happy Valley 1,650m, and on Cape Canaveral, another recent Valley winner.
All three of Real Dragon’s lifetime wins have come from inside draws over the same course and distance where he can take the box seat and barrier one presents the perfect lay out for him again on Wednesday night in race five.
Cape Canaveral, who showed a little promise in Victoria racing under that name, has done nothing wrong this season in four runs, with a first, second, third and fifth, and he wasn’t far away last time for second over the 1,200m at the Valley. Back to the scene of that run, he has gate five and looks likely to find the box seat himself behind likely leader Apollo Cavalier. The son of Starcraft looks perfectly placed to win again.
In the last race, Whyte is back teamed up with John Size and Enabling is a likely improver on his tenth first-up this season. He was in an ideal tracking position approaching the turn in the 1,650m race and likely to be in the finish but was checked heavily by another runner and put out of the race. The other jockey involved was penalised for what was almost a nasty fall and Whyte himself was fined for misconduct after letting his rival know what he thought about it after the finish line.
By Nathan Mody
