Paul Perry has trained seven winners in the past week and last season’s Broadmeadow premiership-winning trainer could land a double on his home track on Saturday.
Perry will saddle up six runners and he told the Newcastle Herald today that his unraced three-year-old filly Breaking Story (Race 2) and topweight Elegant Doubt (Race 8) are his best chances.
“Breaking Story is a nice filly and she trialled okay earlier this week," Perry said. "This filly has the speed to race on the pace over the short course and she will be hard to beat. We paid around $100,000 for her at the Gold Coast Magic Millions sale”, Perry said.
In-form mare Elegant Doubt has the steadier of 61kg in the 1200-metre Benchmark 65 Handicap: “It is a huge weight for the mare but she is a little ‘trier’ and should have a nice run midfield from the rails barrier.“ Elegant Doubt is a strong finisher and she will hump the weight okay. It is difficult to find suitable races for this mare so I have to run her with the big weight," Perry said.
Perry’s European stayer Ghost Protocol will have his second run back after a six-month spell in a Benchmark 84 Handicap over 1600m at Randwick tomorrow. Ghost Protocol is yet to win a race since arriving in Australia, but he was unlucky when fourth in the 2013 Newcastle Cup. The six year-old has only had three starts since that run.First-up over an unsuitable trip at Rosehill two weeks ago, Ghost Protocol was strong at the finish going down by 2.5 lengths and he normally runs well second-up: “The mile on Saturday is short of his best distance, but the horse is going really well and I was happy with him first-up. He may just need one more run to bring him to his top but I think he will run well tomorrow," Perry said.
Kris Lees should get punters off to a good start when his well-bred mare Moon Symbol steps out in the opening event – a 1200m Maiden Plate. The four year-old made her racetrack debut on Newcastle Cup day with an eye-catching fourth in a strong maiden field. It is a significant drop in class tomorrow and with the benefit of the first-up experience she has bright prospects.The most interesting runner of the day is owned by Godolphin, the unbeaten three-year-old Deitch in the 1200m Benchmark 65 Handicap. Deitch’s only two starts resulted in victories at Goulburn last month and he is a natural front-runner. The Godolphin stable have a high opinion of this gelding.
Wyong trainer Kim Waugh’s decision to withdraw Dylan’s Rojo from Gosford on Thursday should be vindicated when the in form four-year-old runs in the 1400m Class 2 Handicap. Dylan’s Rojo overcame a wide run to win first-up at Hawkesbury on September 11 then he was narrowly beaten at Broadmeadow two weeks ago.In other news, the NJC has announced the first stage of its Board elections was completed on Thursday with the four incumbent member-elected Directors retaining their positions. Current Directors Geoff Barnett, Bill Moncrieff, Rob Dan and Mike Hadaway were all re-elected following a tally of the votes.
NJC Chairman Geoff Barnett said he was very pleased to see the current Directors returned: “We’ve set ourselves a path to upgrade the Broadmeadow tracks with funding approved by Racing NSW and to making sure we continue the improvement made to our Club over the past few years.”Applications for the remaining three Nominated Director positions close on Friday, 24th October 2014.
