Dracs Back

[sethlad]

Anyone know whats going on with this horse?

Comes out of the best Brisbane Carnival races & we barely see it til it arrives at the Gold Nugget & runs 3rd.
Trainer says it isnt being trained for the MC & they are likely to go to the Mackinnon (2000m) on Derby Day.
Continues to firm in MC markets off a decent effort in the old Coongy.
They pay up for the MC & nominate for the MV Cup (2600m)

All this for a horse whose Spring goal is supposedly a 2000m race?

seth

 

[Aussie Assault]

Anyone know whats going on with this horse?

Comes out of the best Brisbane Carnival races & we barely see it til it arrives at the Gold Nugget & runs 3rd.
Trainer says it isnt being trained for the MC & they are likely to go to the Mackinnon (2000m) on Derby Day.
Continues to firm in MC markets off a decent effort in the old Coongy.
They pay up for the MC & nominate for the MV Cup (2600m)

All this for a horse whose Spring goal is supposedly a 2000m race?

seth

At the start of this preparation Weir was ultimately aiming it towards the Melbourne Cup, but its trackwork and early form had not improved as much as he had expected it to from its Brisbane Carnival.

My parents own a horse with him and havent spoken to him since its last start in the Coongy, but in the week leading up to that he was very unlikely to head to the Melbourne Cup with it, because of this weaker form. I dont know if he has now changed his mind after it finished the Coongy off well.

 

[Ted]

BALLARAT trainer Darren Weir plans to lower his sights with promising stayer Dracs Back and bypass the Melbourne Cup.

Even a super impressive win in tomorrow's Group 2 Cathay Pacific Airways Moonee Valley Cup (2500m) probably will not sway Weir.

"The owner might be keen on a Cup run," Weir said. "But I would prefer the Queen Elizabeth and Sandown Classic program. That sort of suits him."

Weir said jockey Damien Oliver had suggested the Group 2 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2500m) on November 10 as an ideal target after riding Dracs Back to finish fourth in Saturday's Coongy Handicap (2000m).

Dracs Back, the $5 TAB Sportsbet favourite tomorrow, is 31st in order of entry to the Melbourne Cup and would need to win and earn a rehandicap to be assured of a start.

The conditions of the Moonee Valley Cup were changed three years ago to enable the winner to incur a penalty.

Weir trained 2003 Melbourne Cup runner-up She's Archie.

Nine Moonee Valley Cup runners remain in the Emirates Melbourne Cup.

The numbers of David Hayes' Melbourne Cup squad will be clearer after Lazer Sharp and Viz Vitae run.

Hayes has a possible seven Cup runners: Tawqeet, Blue Monday, Miss Finland, The Fuzz, Black Tom, Lazer Sharp and Viz Vitae.

"Lazer Sharp needs to show his best form, while Viz Vitae is coming back from stem cell surgery and needs to prove he can keep performing," Hayes said.

Dracs Back has made an encouraging return from tendon sheath problems at the Brisbane winter carnival.

"He's been a bit behind because I haven't been able to work him along like normal," Weir said.

"Ideally he'd have been longer in the paddock, but that would have meant missing the spring."

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22649627-5006021,00.html