“We didn’t come all this way to be unlucky.”
That is the approach Kentuckiana Lodge trainer Cran Dalgety is taking with tactics for his star pacer Krug ahead of The Rising Sun at Albion Park on Saturday night.
Dalgety made his statement not only with the knowledge his star three-year-old is perfectly poised in barrier 1 but also because how much he appreciates the rare opportunity Krug has been handed in the inaugural running of the $A$250,00 feature.
Guaranteed a nice starting spot, the three-year-old secured the best position of all of them in barrier 1 at Monday’s barrier draw.
And Dalgety wants driver Blair Orange make sure he uses the ace draw to full effect on Saturday night.
“Krug is very fast out of the gate and he has only got a very short run to the first bend to hold up early,” Dalgety said.
“I’ll put it this way, we have travelled thousands of kilometres in the middle of a pandemic and now we are looking at going through quarantine to get home.”
“We won’t be going through all of that to leave anything to chance, especially with big money up.”
“We will be giving it everything we have and leaving it all out on the track.”
“If anyone thinks they can cross us good luck to them, they are absolutely dreaming.”
With Krug’s main rivals Expensive Ego and Copy That drawn on the second row, Dalgety wants them and the remainder of his rivals to have to run an incredible time to beat his star.
The trainer goes into Saturday night’s rich 2138m feature confident his colt can do that and he hopes it will be mathematically impossible for his rivals to catch Krug.
“We are pretty confident our horse is capable of running a very fast time,” Dalgety said.
“The others are going to have to run an even better one to beat him.”
“The way the race sets up and with his draw, we want to make it mathematically impossible for them to beat us.”
“If it works out that way it will be perfect.”
“If the others are good enough to beat us then so be it, we will be able to walk away knowing we gave it everything and that we had our chance.”
Krug jogged home in his first Australian start in the Redcliffe Derby two weeks ago and has thrived since.
“He has settled in a treat and come through the Redcliffe run very well,” Dalgety said.
“All the work has been done, so bring on the race.”
Anthony Butt drove Krug in his first-up win at Redcliffe and he now switches camps to drive Copy That on Saturday night.
Blair Orange will risk having to quarantine on his return to New Zealand to reunite with Dalgety’s star pacer.
“It is a big relief that Blair has been able to make it,” Dalgety said.
“He knows the horse inside out and he has driven him perfectly in every start they have had together.”
“Blair has been a big part of the horse’s success and we are hoping there’s a bit more on offer on Saturday night.”
The Rising Sun will get underway at 9.45pm New Zealand time on Saturday.
- By Jonny Turner
