WHEN Dunderry lines up in the ANZAC Day Sprint at Tyers Park on Wednesday for Bathurst trainer Paul Theobald, it will mark the 100th start of his career.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It is a race the nine-year-old veteran has a handy record in, having won the 1,200 metres feature in 2016 then only just missing out on the placings last year when running fifth.
While marking his century with a win will be no easy task given Dunderry is up against some quality rivals and will go from barrier 10, he will only carry 50 kilograms.
“He’s drawn an outside barrier which doesn’t help him, but he comes right in on the weights,” Theobald said.
“I’ve got apprentice Ashleigh Stanley on him, he’ll think there’s a flea on his back, and if you look at his record, every girl that’s ridden him has won with him too.
“He’s as fresh as a daisy, if you look at him you’d think he was a five-year-old, he’s just blossoming.
“I can’t fault him at the moment and I’ve done everything I possibly could to get him right for this race.”
While Dunderry heads into the Bathurst race after placing 10th in the Wellington Town Plate on April 8, Theobald said not to read too much into that result.
“That was a hard race for him, there was just so much bad luck for him. He got hammered, he just got sandwiched between horses at the 600,” the trainer said.
“When that happened he just went ‘Oh well’ and protected himself, he lived to fight another day. He’s a smart horse and that’s why he’s got that longevity.”
Naturally Theobald is hoping his Murphy’s Blue Boy x Lyric Of Spring gelding finds better luck on Wednesday.
Dunderry has placed third twice in his last three runs over the distance at his home track, while from 14 attempts at the 1,200m trip at Tyers Park over the course of his career, he has been in the placings nine times.
The trainer feels his can add to that handy record.
“He enjoys that distance because what they do when they come out of the gate, from the get-go, they’re not going that hard, they’re quick to settle,” he said.
“It means he can get some cheap sectionals and if he gets those cheap sectionals, then he’s hard to run down.”
Fellow Bathurst trainer Dean Mirfin has two runners from his stable entered in the Benchmark 67 ANZAC Day Sprint as well – Art ‘N’ Ollie and Repentant.
To be ridden by Jamie Gibbons, four-year-old mare Repentant won her last start at Tyers Park over the same distance in February.
Art ‘N’ Ollie has also found success over the 1,200m this campaign, having won a Benchmark 67 at Mudgee. She will be ridden by Anthony Cavallo on Wednesday.
The fifth of seven races, $20,000 ANZAC Day Sprint is set to jump at 3.21pm.
