The Ladbrokes Summer Six-Hundy final, set to jump this Saturday night at 8:55pm at Gosford, kicks off a massive few months of middle distance racing in NSW.
Here’s our preview of the final, including The Hounds tip to claim the $25,000 prize:
Jumped beautifully in the heats from the same draw but she was soon swamped in the run to the post and was quickly shuffled back towards the tail of the field. Railed through the next turn and was lucky to avoid some chaos in the process, and managed to find some clean air to finish the race off well and jag a spot in the decider. That was her first look at Gosford so she should be a few lengths better for the run and she was a Group 1 Golden Sands winner four starts back, knocking off fellow finalists Father Rick and Nangar Lucy in the process. Yet to miss a place in five starts from the red and could get the run of the race in behind likely leader and race favourite Father Rick. Big improver.
Age shall not weary Father Rick as the four-year-old marvel continues to produce over the middle distance. The heat win was over a length quicker than Off The Richter’s effort and he had panels on the rest. Box 2 should help him find the lead on the bend start at Gosford and if that occurs, his bold front-running tactics will almost ensure he features in the finish. Father Rick has won five of his last six starts with his only defeat in that time coming at the hands of Fahey’s Magic at Albion Park, and a Summer Six-Hundy title would sit nicely alongside his Dapto Middle Distance Championship triumph in November and John Dillon Memorial trophy in December. Deserved favourite.
For a dog that wants the fence, four straight Box 8 draws is just cruel. In saying that, he has performed admirably in three of those contests and now gets Box 3 to show exactly what he can do. The half brother to Zipping Orlando (out of Zipping Dharma) has an eerily similar profile to the Association Cup and ‘715’ winner and looks best suited over the middle distance, if not further in time. Not much early pace to speak about but could be another benefactor of the early speed inside him from Father Rick, and if he tucks across towards the rail, I like his chances of muscling Fahey’s Magic out of the way considering he weighs in at 38.5kg while she is a diminutive 24.7kg. Could be the best roughie in the field.
Somewhat of a surprise heat winner last Tuesday at a double figure quote, Agent Spaghetti enjoyed a beautiful run from Box 1 to qualify fourth fastest for the final. He produced a similarly impressive effort at Nowra on Monday to finish hard on the heels of Has Ability in the Anniversary Cup, and strikes this feature final fit and in form. The speed map is crucial to his chances with Father Rick sure to be on pace from Box 2, with Nangar Lucy capable of flying out in Box 5. If he doesn’t get jammed up by that pair, or even leads himself, he will be in the race for a long way. Has earned six cheques from eight starts for the Curtale’s since arriving from Melbourne but probably needs to lead this field to win.
Lucy has almost done as many kilometres as her globetrotting trainers in the last few months with trips back and forth between QLD and NSW alongside caretaker trainer Dave Irwin just becoming the norm. She’s still racing in fine fettle though with three wins from her last seven appearances including an appearance in the G1 Golden Sands final back in January. Her heat run was impressive considering the work she had to do from Box 8, showing great race sense to find a nice spot on the rail before driving hard at Agent Spaghetti and just missing. She has since been back to QLD and won again and Lucy looks like being a mainstay of the middle distance ranks over the coming months with the upcoming Ladbrokes Country Classic looming as part of her program. Squeeze box makes it harder but don’t mind her chances.
Nangar Lucy is already a Group 1 Peter Mosman Opal and Group 2 Black Top winner over the sprint trip
As he steps out in the final of the Summer Six-Hundy on Saturday night, it will be one year to the day since Has Ability made his first walk to the boxes in the heats of the Robert Smith Memorial maiden…and it’s been a heck of a year for the Hazlett crew. He’s 13 wins over the past 12-months and appearances in features like the Vic Peters Classic, The Collerson, the Gosford Cup and of course the Million Dollar Chase make Has Ability a real threat in this contest. He had a nice hit out on Monday (replay below), winning the same Nowra race that Agent Spaghetti was engaged in, so he’s hard fit and is strong enough to run out the 603m at Gosford. Box 6 does him no favours but he’s honest and reliable and he’s getting closer to winning a big one.
The youngster of the field (by quite a margin) doesn’t turn two until April so what exactly is his ceiling? Gary Stewart thinks he might have something out of the box and based on last week’s heat win, we tend to agree. The time of 34.43 was second quickest to only Father Rick and the fact it came in Off The Richter’s first attempt at the middle distance is even more impressive. Wasn’t the quickest away in the heats but he built some real momentum up the back straight, looped the leaders on the home turn and then he was running away from a quality dog like Has Ability on the line. Very impressive prospect but has this big race come up a bit too soon?
The second of the Finn runners in the final, Zipping Caleb is a half-brother to Zipping Kyrgios and Zipping Maserati. He’s certainly got the natural ability to be a factor in this sort of field but it’s only his second 600m for the kennel and he’s been dealt a horror draw, so on paper at least, it looks a little tough for him. Deserved Christmas Gift winner late last year and a QLD Derby finalist behind MORTON in January shows he is in some form, but he would need to overturn 5.25 lengths on Father Rick if he was to knock him off. I tend to lean towards Zipping Ronaldo as the safer betting prospect in this race just based on the box draw and do wonder if the Country Classic is Caleb’s main goal this year?
