The Group 3 Faithful Park Stud Tassie Golden Apple is the feature event on Saturday night’s card in Launceston.
Over the short 2200-metre journey it makes it a very tough ask for horses to overcome a 30-metre handicap, the task looks to be made harder this year with better quality horses starting off the front and 10-metre marks.
The race is set down for 20:50 and is race six on the card.
1. Karalta Dazzler
Trainer: Ben Yole
Driver: Gareth Rattray
Handicap: Front
Ladbrokes: $101
This pacer is engaged in Burnie on Friday night, and he scraped into the final when finishing 21.8 metres behind Ryley Major. He has good standing start manners and did win a standing start claimer at Carrick Park late last month, this race may be a bridge too far.
2. Perfect Mach
Trainer: Ben Yole
Driver: Mark Yole
Handicap: Front
Ladbrokes: $26
The gelding is closing in on breaking the $200,000 barrier in prizemoney. He settled behind the leader in his heat when he chased home Ryley Major. His last win was on a standing start claimer last July.
4. Black Centurian (EM)
Trainer: Steven Davis
Driver: Steven Davis
Handicap: Front
Ladbrokes: $101
This veteran pacer has won 18 races, his last win was in the 2019 Scottsdale Pacing Cup. He just scraped into this field when finishing seventh behind The Shallows in his heat of this race where he led. He was seventh in this race last year.
3. Yatsenyuk Leis
Trainer: Shelley Barnes
Driver: John Walters
Handicap: Front
Ladbrokes: $41
The gelding is yet to be placed in six standing start races. He galloped out for the first 15 metres in his heat before settling outside the leader when defeated by 11 metres. The five-year-old has won nine races, four of those wins being on the Launceston track.
5. Taurisi
Trainer: Heath Szczypka
Driver: Christian Salter
Handicap: Front
Ladbrokes: $31
He was defeated 13.8 metres in this race last year and has had a change of stable since. He is another that has poor standing start manners, he galloped away in his heat and lost a lot of ground which he can’t afford to do here. His last win was in a rating 66 to 79 event in Hobart in late February.
6. Kardesler
Trainer: Juanita McKenzie
Driver: Ricky Duggan
Handicap: Front
Ladbrokes: $19
He has progressed through the ratings nicely since arriving in the Magra stables of Juanita McKenzie in June. Four wins and nine placings later he finds himself in the Golden Apple final. He can be hit and miss from the tapes as we saw in his heat where he galloped out before following The Shallows into the race when third.
7. Sea Double Ugrant
Trainer: Peter Dornauf
Driver: Rohan Hadley
Handicap: 10m
Ladbrokes: $81
This gelding finished fifth in this race last year. He was first-up in his heat last week where he sat one-out one-back for the final 1400 metres when finishing 18-metres behind Ryley Major. Two of his 18 wins have been in standing start races including the 2019 New Norfolk Cup.
8. Lip Reader
Trainer: Rohan Hillier
Driver: Conor Crook (C)
Handicap: 10m
Ladbrokes: $11
The pacer is yet to miss a place in four standing start attempts and this five-year-old gelding has an excellent record on the Launceston track which is 10 starts for six wins and four placings. He finished third in his heat after racing outside the leader over the final mile which isn’t the pacers go. He won the two starts before that in Devonport in good fashion.
9. Blackbird Power
Trainer: Gavin Kelly
Driver: Gavin Kelly (C)
Handicap: 10m
Ladbrokes: $91
He was a Launceston winner five starts ago over Scooterwillrev and has finished down the track in recent runs. He was driven for luck three-back the pegs in his heat where he only got out at the top of the home straight out wide in a solid last half mile when sixth behind The Shallows.
10. The Shallows
Trainer: Heath Woods
Driver: Heath Woods
Handicap: 10m
Ladbrokes: $6.00
Trainer-driver Heath Woods took a break from the industry, and when his son Aaron showed interest in getting involved they found this talented pacer as an un-raced youngster. The four-year-old gelding is yet to miss a top-two finish in five starts on the Launceston track with his biggest win being in the Show Cup four starts ago, and he wouldn’t surprise here.
11. Ignatius
Trainer: Todd Rattray
Driver: Todd Rattray
Handicap: 30m
Ladbrokes: $2.20
He galloped out in his heat and he can’t afford to do that here in a bigger field. The multiple Group 1 winner raced three-wide for the final 750 metres of his heat where he finished second behind The Shallows, his own individual last half mile was recorded in 55.55s the quickest of any horse in the two heats.
12. Ryley Major
Trainer: Rohan Hillier
Driver: Rohan Hillier
Handicap: 30m
Ladbrokes: $2.60
Ryley Major will be crowned the Tasmanian Horse Of The Year after a stellar comeback during this extended season. He won this race last year along with the states premier race the Group 2 Tasmania Cup earlier on in this extended season. He has terrific standing start manners, which we saw in his heat where he ended up racing one-out and two-back before Hillier worked into the race out wide from the 400 metres to score a comfortable win.
13. Call Me Hector
Trainer: Matthew Cooper
Driver: Troy McDonald (C)
Handicap: 30m
Ladbrokes:$41
Hector holds both the sprint trip track records in Hobart and Launceston, he is an ODS horse, but his standing start manners of late have been significantly better than he has produced in the past. He worked forward in a solid lead time off his 30-metre handicap in his heat which took it’s toll late in a 56.6s last half mile when fifth. Troy McDonald has picked up the drive, he has had three drives on the pacer for two wins and one minor placing.