A good barrier draw should give on-pace galloper All Cylinders the impetus to run a cheeky race at Hawkesbury.
Forget the winter carnival in Queensland, trainer Peter Robl has a far more adventurous trek in mind for his sprinter All Cylinders.
The four-year-old, who will line up in Saturday’s Hawkesbury XXXX Gold Rush (1100m), is on a longer-term mission to fulfill the dream of his owners by running in the Palmerston Sprint in Darwin.
The July race is one of the features of their popular racing carnival and the former jockey is excited at the prospect of saddling up his first runner in the Northern Territory.
“I rode up there a couple of times, but I’ve never had a runner up there,” Robl said.
“His owner is a Northern Territory man and he has always wanted to have a runner up there over the carnival, so all being well, he will head up to Darwin the first week in June.
“The dirt track in Darwin favours on-speed horses, which this horse is. He is pretty casual and laidback in all aspects of life around the stable so he’s probably the ideal horse to go up there.”
However, Robl’s more immediate focus is on All Cylinder’s Saturday assignment.
The gelding has yet to place in three runs this campaign, but he finished less than two lengths from subsequent Listed winner Sisstar at Moonee Valley two starts ago and wasn’t disgraced in a good form race at Canterbury behind Enchanted Heart and Lost And Running.
From barrier six, Robl anticipates a competitive performance.
“His three runs this prep he has drawn badly, so he’s had to churn and burn too fast in the early part of the races to get across, which has left him quite vulnerable the last furlong,” Robl said.
“This is the first time this prep he has actually drawn a decent barrier.”
The sprint has attracted a capacity field of 14 with Godolphin mare Varda the pre-post favourite.
Article from JustHorseRacing.com.au