3 minute read
Two brave performances at weight-for-age, a massive weight drop under handicap conditions and the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott bone and muscle give jockey Rachel King confidence a TAB Epsom is within her reach on Riodini.
It's well documented the success Waterhouse has had in the $1.5m feature Randwick mile, with seven trophies on the mantelpiece, and Rachel King said it's hard to deny the form around the gelding is strong.
Riodini, $4.80 favourite with TAB on Friday, has been run down by Think It Over and Verry Elleegant at weight-for-age at the Randwick mile in the past month and drops to 51.5kg.
"It's a huge drop and for him to perform so well with those big weights he was doing a super job,'' King said.
"His form was a bit mixed before that, they put the blinkers back on him and he did a super job (in the Chelmsford). He proved that form wasn't a fluke and to then be run down by a horse like Verry Elleegant you have to be pretty pleased with that run.
"A free rolling front-running horse like him when you can drop in weight, especially when they are trained by Gai and Adrian, I'd be even more confident he can bowl along at a good tempo.
"He's rock hard fit, he's ready to go, and a light weight makes a big difference."
King has now partnered the five-year-old three times for three second placings and, amazingly, Riodini is yet to win a race in Australia.
There's no reason to fear an outside barrier at the Randwick mile and King said barrier 15 means she won't have to dig the horse up to find a forward spot.
And nine of the last 12 Epsoms have been won by horses drawn 10 or deeper.
"It gives me that little bit of time to let him begin and get into stride without rushing him and making him fire up and do too much because he can be a keen going horse,'' King said.
"I have that option to stay out a bit, let everyone sort themselves out and let him glide across and use that natural cruising speed he's got.
"I'm going to have to judge my horse and know how much fuel we have in the tank because there are plenty of horses chasing me with light weights on their backs as well."
Harpo Marx has won six races in Australia and King has been on board in five of them and says he's earned his shot at the Group 1 $750,000 Heineken Metropolitan (2400m).
Trainer Bjorn Baker has brought the gelding through the grades in the second half of the winter and early spring and his Premier's Cup win two starts back told King he's a chance in the handicap staying contest.
"He's gone from strength to strength this preparation,'' she said.
"He's very versatile, he will go on any track. He's been labelled a bit as a wet tracker, he handles it well but his wins have been just as good on good tracks. He wants to win, he's just a very honest horse and that's what you want."
The six-year-old started $6 in the Newcastle Cup and while he finished sixth, beaten 3-1/2 lengths, King said to her eye, as she was unable to ride him that day, the effort was better than it looked.
He's a $16 chance in the Metropolitan.
"I thought his last run was very good, he was one of the last horses to get going which doesn't suit him so it was creditable,'' she said.
"His win before that proved he is an up and coming stayer. It is a big step to Group 1 but it is an open field and a lot of horses with similar form to him."
