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Last year’s Wagga Cup winner Coliseo will have to beat the record books to win Friday’s $170,000 Commercial Club Albury Gold Cup.
Photo by Racing and Sports
The Norm Gardner-trained Coliseo is the early favourite for the Albury Cup after a fine last start second in the Listed Canberra Cup on March 10.
That was just his third run back from a spell and indicates he is again in the form that saw him beat a strong field in the Wagga Cup last May.
However no horse in the last 45 years has been able to follow up a Wagga Cup win with a victory in the Albury Cup.
Only one horse has landed the double in reverse in that time. Abstraction won the 1989 Albury Cup for Lee Freedman and followed up six weeks later with a win in the Wagga Cup.
Coliseo has drawn ideally in barrier three for the Albury Cup with his Wagga Cup winning jockey Jeff Penza to ride.
Penza and Gardner have never previously targeted the Albury Cup but Coliseo is a 2000m specialist with two wins and four minor placings over the trip.
The David Hayes-trained Auld Burns, topweight Niblick and Peck are also prominent in the early betting.
Hayes is chasing his third Albury Cup win in four years after he captured his first in 2010 with Growl and again last year with Extra Zero.
The Hall of Fame trainer has a two-pronged attack with last-start Flemington winner Auld Burns and consistent mare Rock Robster.
Niblick is trained at Albury by Brett Cavanough, who is looking to become the first local trainer to capture the Albury Cup since Richard Freyer in 2004.
Niblick won the National Sprint (1400m) on Canberra Cup day with James McDonald aboard at his first start for the Cavanough stable.
Matthew Cahill, a three time Albury Cup winner, takes over from McDonald as Niblick’s rider on Friday.
Peck will be the first Albury Cup starter for the powerful Peter Snowden stable but has to overcome barrier of 11 in the 16-horse field.
Peck has finished unplaced in two runs on his home track at Warwick Farm since resuming from a 17-week spell early last month.
Jockey Christian Reith will take his first Albury cup mount.
