Rain Arrives To Boost Tiger Tees Chances
- Monday, 18 August 2014 08:54
Chris Waller has strength in numbers heading to the Warwick Stakes but rival trainer Joe Pride has the weather on his side.
Rain in Sydney which is expected to continue until Saturday's Randwick meeting boosts the chances of Tiger Tees against a classy field of weight-for-age performers.
Waller has nine of the 18 entries while Pride has also nominated Laser Hawk who will be having his second start since a long injury lay-off.
But on a wet track, Tiger Tees will be his best prospect with the seven-year-old a Group One winner of the Galaxy on slow ground earlier this year.
Pride entered the seven-year-old for the Missile Stakes last Saturday week but instead sent him to Melbourne for the Aurie's Star in which he showed his class despite the good surface.
After that race, Pride said unless rain came, he was happy for Tiger Tees to stay at home rather than take on the better horses on hard tracks.
"I will have Tiger Tees and Laser Hawk in the race," Pride said.
"Tiger Tees has shown he runs well on good tracks but he handles wet tracks a lot better than many others."
Laser Hawk is relatively inexperienced on rain-affected going and of his three attempts, his only placed effort was third in the 2012 Randwick Guineas behind Mosheen and Said Com.
The Waller-trained Sacred Falls is the top rater at 116 and his two outings on heavy tracks have produced successive wins in the Group One Doncaster Mile.
Tommy Berry, who rode him to victory in 2013, takes the ride on Saturday while Kerrin McEvoy is aboard stablemate Royal Descent, a 10 length winner of the 2013 Australian Oaks in the wet and second to Sacred Falls in this year's Doncaster.
"I think the Doncaster was one of the best runs of her career," Waller said.
"I'm really happy with how she looks and she will be aimed at the Cox Plate.
"We tried her again at 2400 metres last spring but I think she is better over shorter."
The rain will rule the Waller-trained Boban out with the Group One Memsie Stakes (1400m) a week later on the agenda.
Among the other entries is La Amistad, a Redoute's Choice sister to Makybe Diva, trained by the Hawkes family.
She and several other Warwick Stakes entrants are also nominated for the Rowley Mile at Hawkesbury on Thursday.
