Avdulla Sweats It Out For George Main Ride
- Tuesday, 16 September 2014 07:23
Jockey Brenton Avdulla is already more than halfway towards shedding the weight he needs to ride inexperienced three-year-old Panzer Division in the George Main Stakes.
But the real challenge for Avdulla to strip down to 50.5kg will come in the 24 hours leading up to the Group One weight-for-age race at Randwick on Saturday.
Avdulla weighed in at 52.5kg on Tuesday after almost a week sweating it out with his trainer Hassan Saleh.
Brenton Avdulla rides.
With important rides over the two-day Newcastle Gold Cup carnival, Avdulla said he was reluctant to lose any more weight in case it compromised his strength in the saddle.
"I don't want to get too light too quickly so I'll hang around the 52 and a half kilos for a few days," Avdulla said.
"I'm feeling good where I am at the moment and this way it will give my body a chance to settle.
"Then Thursday night and Friday is when I'm going to go crunch time.
"And by Friday it will be a case of whatever I've got to do to get the rest of the weight off."
All going to plan, Avdulla will be riding at his lightest since his early days as an apprentice.
"Even when I first came to Sydney to ride for Gai Waterhouse I was 51 kilos."
Because he is keeping faith with owners and trainers who booked him for George Main Stakes day mounts before the Panzer Division opportunity came along, Avdulla could have as many as six Randwick rides.
"Ideally in this situation you'd probably take three or four rides but I won't have any problem riding in six races," he said.
Panzer Division will be the only three-year-old in the George Main and his appearance comes at just his fourth start and two months after his race debut resulted in a maiden win on the provincial circuit.
As a colt by super sire Redoute's Choice, Panzer Division's stud value will soar tenfold if he can upset his older rivals.
Avdulla's Randwick book also includes Bagman in the Hill Stakes, I'm All The Talk in The Shorts and Alpha Miss in the Tea Rose Stakes.
