The clash between veteran sprinters Orphan Point and Nimbastic shapes as one of the highlights of Saturday night’s Wentworth Park meeting.
The two will clash in the Orphan Point 100 Starts Tonight FFA (race five at 8.45pm), with the race name celebrating the Gary Ernst-trained Orphan Point bringing up a remarkable century of racetrack appearances.
Orphan Point, the winner of 25 of his 99 starts, with 15 of those successes coming at Glebe, has been given a ‘present’ to mark his milestone after being allocated box one for Saturday night’s engagement.
While he’ll turn five next April, Orphan Point is racing in great heart, scoring in a respectable 30.44 two starts back and then running second to Kez And Col last Saturday night, beaten only a length in 30.26.
From the rails, Orphan Point has a great chance to celebrate his 100th start in perfect fashion, and his main threat could be Nimbastic, herself a veteran of 74 starts.
Nimbastic, which has drawn box three, is a last start winner at headquarters, leading most of the way in an impressive 30.19 last Saturday night from the same draw.
While the veterans have a strong hand in race five, Mick Abbott’s promising youngster Three For Ten looks a great chance to continue the bright start to her career in the following race, the Over Flo At Stud Grade 5.
Three For Ten has won seven of her 11 starts and she looked good when leading all the way, albeit against only three rivals, on Monday night in a handy 30.23.
The February ’08 whelp looks well drawn in box two for Saturday night’s assignment.
Three For Ten’s trainer, Mick Abbott, boasts one of the best strike rates in the country and he looks to have two strong chances on Saturday night with Liquigas, runner-up to Three For Ten on Monday night, a leading contender in race nine, the Globe Memorial Grade 5.