Cran Dalgety is warming to the idea that
Smiling Shard (Grinfromeartoear-Sly Shard) can successfully
defend his Breeders’ Crown title. After what Dalgety
terms a frustrating season, Smiling Shard showed he was
peaking again at the right time for the Crown with an
effortless repechage win at Yarra Valley last Friday. It
cemented his spot in Friday night’s semi-finals at Melton’s
Tabcorp Park.
“Initially we were disappointed Franco Jamar beat him in
his Heat back home, but it’s turned out a blessing in
disguise,” Dalgety said. “He’s quite a gross
little colt, and getting another run into him before the
semis is a benefit. “I know he only ran slow time, but Gavin
(Lang, stand-in driver) said he did it easily. It’s not the
time he ran, it’s how he did it the other day. “He’s
pretty good now, very close to his peak and I’m heading into
the semis and hopefully the Final with a lot of optimism.”
Asked whether he thought Smiling Shard was top seed among
the Kiwi raiders in the Crown 3-year-old colts and geldings
division – which also includes Franco Jamar and Courage To
Rule – Dalgety said: “without sounding too cocky, yes, I
do.” Lang took Smiling Shard to the lead from gate four in
his repechage, dawdled through a 65 middle half, quickened
slightly for a 29.9 third quarter then sizzled home the last
400m in 26.9 to easily beat Master Joy (Art Major-Lady Joy)
and Chariot King (Badlands Hanover-Queen Xena).
Australian Derby winner Lanercost (Courage Under Fire-Lanoch),
the horse Smiling Shard beat in a stirring Crown 2YO Final
last season, also booked a semi-final berth with a repechage
win at Yarra Valley. Lanercost was forced to the
repechages when he was underdone and simply out-toughed by
Kiwi pacer Courage To Rule in a Crown Heat in Queensland two
weeks earlier. Like Dalgety, Lanercost’s
trainer/driver Darrel Graham was glad his stable star had to
go through a repechage.
“He was so underdone for the Heat back home,” Graham
said. “It’d been a real race against time to get him
back from the hamstring strain in the Gold Coast Derby. “I
knew he’d improved on the Heat run, and he showed it today
(last Friday). “With those runs and now a semi-final under
his belt, I think I can have him right at his top again for
the Final.” Lanercost, backed into $1.90 at Yarra
Valley, somehow landed the prized spot behind the leader and
his main danger, Vicbred champion David Hercules
(Artesian-Like A Dame), and used a sprint lane run to beat
him.
The upset of the Yarra Valley repechages came when tough
NSW visitor Cuttheattitude (Modern Art-Discordia) was run
down after leading as a $1.20 favourite by fellow NSW pacer
Our High Octane (McArdle-Jessica Rose), who used the sprint
lane. Yarra Valley also hosted three Crown repechages
for 3-year-old fillies, but they lacked head performers in a
division expected to be dominated by Kiwi filly De Lovely.
The first repechage went to NSW filly Art Princess (Art
Major-The Kindly One), who sat without cover in a 1.59.2
mile rate for 2150m. The other two were won by Forest
Babe (Modern Art-Estasi) in a 2.02.6 mile rate and Definite
Girl (D M Dilinger-Drimos) in 2.01.5..
