THE barriers draw for Sunday night’s $30,000 Maxfield Drilling Raider Stakes Final (race 7) over 2665 metres at Devonport Showground has given the race an added twist.
With archrivals Quastor Centurion and Beautide having drawn next to each other on the front line in gates one and two respectively punters will be torn as to which one will start favourite.
Beautide is the reigning Tasmanian Horse of the Year and is unbeaten this preparation and has taken Quastor Centurion’s scalp twice already this season so it would be a given that he would start a short-price favourite to add the Raider Stakes to his already impressive list of feature race wins.
But Quastor Centurion has regained top form and in recent outings and has been given the luxury of the pole position, a gate from which he can lead and be the one to run down.
If Beautide was able to cross Quastor Centurion then the race would be all over bar the shouting but there is no doubt Quastor Centurion’s driver Ricky Duggan will be doing all in his power to ensure that doesn’t happen.
Drifting West has been very competitive against both of the aforementioned four-year-olds but he fared badly at the draw coming up with gate 10 to start off near the outside of the second row.
His trainer-driver Christian Salter will be hoping to snare a berth in the none-out line but it won’t be an easy task.
The other Tasbred feature race on the card is the $30,000 Granny Smith for four-year-old mares (race 5) that is the female equivalent of the Raider Stakes.
Klebnikova Leis has been racing in great form of late and her front row draw, albeit from the outside gate (6) it should be enough of an advantage to give her the responsibility of carrying most of the punters’ money ahead of her archrival Benediction that has been struggling to win of late.
Klebnikova Leis won her Granny Smith heat and two starts prior she scored impressively in a C2-C3 in Launceston.
Benediction was second to Hilda Su in her Granny Smith heat and at her most recent outing she loomed to win in Hobart last Sunday night only to allow the leader to fight back and hold a half-metre margin on the line.
If Benediction was at the top of her game then she would win but it is doubtful that trainer Barrie Rattray can have her in that frame of mind the way she has been racing.
From gate four Hilda Su is a genuine winning chance and at expected odds of possibly $4 or $5 she could be the value bet in the race