Furlong holds strong hand at Riverton
Riccarton trainer Anna Furlong will head south to Riverton with a strong hand on Saturday, with three of her five runners currently holding the favourites tag.
Heading her southern assault will be last start winners Queen Of Sheba (NZ) (Impending) and Champagne Diblu (Russian Revolution) in the Listed Liquorland Gore Guineas (1200m).
Initially scheduled for February, the Guineas was transferred to Riverton’s Easter Saturday meeting after the Gore meeting was abandoned following a horse slipping in the first race, with the revised date working out well for Furlong’s pair.
Queen Of Sheba has been near faultless in her four starts to date, placing in her first three outings before breaking through for her maiden win over 1200m at Ashburton last month.
While only having one more start, Champagne Diblu raced as a juvenile before winning his maiden at Ashburton in October and he beat a handy field, which included several of his Saturday rivals, at his last start in February at the same venue over 1200m.
The pair have drawn at opposite ends of the spectrum, with Queen Of Sheba set to jump from barrier two, while Champagne Diblu has drawn gate 13, but will jump from barrier nine if there are no scratching's.
Queen Of Sheba currently heads the market at $5, while Champagne Diblu is rated an $11 winning hope, but Furlong believes they are more closely aligned.
“In all fairness, she (Queen Of Sheba) has only won a maiden race on an industry day where he has put away a much smarter field than she has,” Furlong said.
“She hasn’t done much wrong in her handful of starts and she is certainly going to benefit from the good draw.
“We have kept Champagne Diblu fresh and when we decided we were going to target that rescheduled race (Gore Guineas) he had a nice exhibition gallop at Riccarton in company.
“He has a bit of a niggly gate, but I am really looking forward to it. Hopefully the weather stays fine and we don’t get any rain ahead of the day.”
Furlong will also have double representation in the Francolin Stakes (1400m) for which last start winner Canasta (NZ) (Ace High) is a $3.760 favourite, while her other runner The Entertainer (NZ) (Staphanos) is a $6.50 equal third favourite.
“It is a pretty nice field, but it is a good race for Canasta and 1400m should be right up her alley,” Furlong said.
The Entertainer has been unplaced in her last two starts at Group level and Furlong said she will appreciate the drop back in grade.
“In her last couple of starts the company has probably been a bit rich for her,” she said. “I think she is well placed in there and hopefully she can figure in the finish.”
Furlong will kick-off the meeting with promising juvenile Miss Thunderdonk (NZ) (Satono Aladdin) in the Agricentre South Excellency Stakes (1100m).
A $13,000 yearling purchase out of last year’s New Zealand Bloodstock Online Yearling Sale, the daughter of Satono Aladdin has made a good impression on Furlong and pleased the Christchurch horsewoman with her runner-up trial performance over 800m at Riccarton last month.
In a field full of debutants, Miss Thunderdonk is a $5 favourite with TAB bookmakers, and Furlong is looking forward to getting a better line on her filly this weekend.
“She trialled up really nicely at Riccarton the other day,” Furlong said. “It is hard to gauge the rest of the field, most of them haven’t had a public appearance. I think she has got a bit of a motor and if she is running in the top three I will be really happy.”
