Any hopes Geoff Dunn had of springing an upset win with Cole Porter at Addington tomorrow night virtually disappeared when the draws came out.
The man who experienced a charmed run over the past few years with Venus Serena and Tiger Tara unleashed his next star, Cole Porter, in the Sapling Stakes back in February.
It was a brilliant 1.53.9 mile-rate win at Ashburton, sinking the likes of Cullenburn and The Brooklyn Brawler with a 26.4 final quarter.
But he was only to have two more starts last season after his gait lost its form, the culprit likely a deep-seated abscess.
“He went a couple of super trials and paced perfectly then when we started him, out of the blue, he paced disgustingly.
“We played around and ended up putting some go-straights on him for a couple more starts and the best he could manage was an ordinary fourth.
“So we turned him out and when we brought him back in after six weeks, on the first day he jogged, a massive abscess blew out of his foot.
“I’d say that was what the problem was; you can’t detect the bloody things.”
Fast-forward to the present and Dunn is thrilled with how Cole Porter has come up for his sophomore season.
“He’s come back really good and he looks a million dollars.
“He’s a lovely horse; a really, really nice horse.”
He resumed at Addington a fortnight ago with a strong second behind Bettor Trix, running the fastest last half in the race after being posted three-wide.
“It was the perfect pipe-opener
“He needed it badly as he’d only had the two trials and I was really rapt with the way he got round the track.
“If he can get round three-wide at that speed on his own, he’s not going to have any trouble there again.”
So ahead of this week’s heat Dunn was praying for a good marble.
The result? The outside of the second line.
Worse still, the all-conquering Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen stable drew two, three, five and two on the second line.
That gives them all the tactical advantage they need to dominate the race with a team spear-headed by last season’s champion juvenile Spankem and the unbeaten Chase Auckland.
Dunn says Cole Porter’s task is futile.
“It’s going to be difficult as it’s a near-impossibility.
“That’s about the best three year old field you’re going to see.
“They could go a New Zealand record speed and still run home in 55secs, so what’s he going to have to do from that draw?
“It’s just a killer.
“I don’t think there will be an opportunity to put him in the race unless he gets on to a real good line early.
“You’ve got to be handy; you just can’t run from behind those horses because they can all do the same thing.
“Really, the draw was crucial and we’ve missed it.”
The TAB had Chase Auckland as a $2 favourite this afternoon, with his stablemates The Devils Own and Spankem on the second line at $3.90.
