Ask Cran Dalgety what he has been focusing on with Kentuckiana Lodge star Krug leading into the Harness Jewels and the last thing he is going to say his barrier draw.
Talk about the dual derby winning star’s barrier one draw on the second row has dominated pre-race talk heading into Sunday’s Group One 3YO Emerald at Cambridge.
But you won’t find Cran or wife and training partner Chrissie Dalgety adding to the conversation.
They have again engaged New Zealand’s leading driver in Blair Orange.
And while the Dalgetys’ focus is on having Krug in the best possible shape for his Harness Jewels tilt his draw is, quite simply, Blair’s problem.
“To be honest the last thing I have been worrying about this week has been what is going to happen at the start,” Dalgety said.
“Sure, it is not the draw we have hoped for but Blair is the man for the job and we can trust him to give the horse every possible hope.”
“Sometimes you wish the reins would reach all the way to the grandstand, but not on Sunday.”
“There are a lot of theories flying around about what may happen and who might do what.”
“Some of them might come true while most of them won’t.”
“At the end of the day we are going into a Group One race with a horse we wouldn’t swap for any other in the field.”
“So I couldn’t be much happier.”
Krug smashed the clock in his second at Alexandra Park last week, coming wide on the bend and hitting the line strongly on a 26sec last 400m.
That shows exactly where the star three-year-old is at heading into Sunday’s race.
“Physically he is fit and healthy and exactly where we want him.”
“It has just been a matter of keeping him happy this week and having him in the zone to run a big race on Sunday.”
One thing that may have been missed in all of this week's pre-Jewels chatter is a key weapon Krug possesses that might prove vital.
Krug has shown incredible acceleration and his pick up speed must rate among the fastest, if not the fastest in New Zealand.
So if he gets any kind of gap in the home straight he will be able to capitalise on it quickly.
“I am naturally going to be a little bit biased and agree with that statement,” Cran said.
“He is certainly very fast and when you ask him to go he is very much push button.”
“When it’s time to go he won’t be hanging around, put it that way.”
Kentuckiana Lodge’s Harness Jewels week started in fine style when Sugar Me ran an excellent second behind Cantfindabettorman, who has looked smart in this season’s top level two-year-old races, at Addington on Thursday night.
The Dalgety stable will also line up Trixton Time at Alexandra Park on Friday night
The four-year-old was excellent in his last start win on the track and looks a big hope of going back-to-back.
