Barrier draw compounds Lady’s luckless run
After drawing the widest barrier, Lady Le Fay’s penchant for finding bad luck during spring could be on display again in the $300,000 Ballarat Cup.
The Chris Waller-trained mare has drawn barrier 22 for Saturday’s Listed race over 2200m, which has a full field of 18 with four emergencies.
On Cox Plate day, jockey Hugh Bowman elected to save ground on the inside rail which proved to be the worst part of the Moonee Valley track and she finished sixth in a Group Three race.
She was in the same finishing position in the Group Two Matriarch Stakes at Flemington on November 5, starting favourite on both occasions.
“When you’re racing in big fields you need a lot to go your way,” Waller said.
“If you had draws against you or racing patterns against you it was hard.
“We’ve made that excuse for her last two starts.”
Waller said the wide gate prompted him to consider saving Lady Le Day for Listed ATC Cup (2000m) at Rosehill on December 3.
“I was disappointed when I saw the barrier draw to the extent I said to the owners ‘do you want to pull out?’,” Waller said.
“She’ll certainly get room on Saturday.”
Lady Le Fay shares the second line of betting at $8.50 along with the Darren Weir-trained Lidari.
The Lee and Anthony Freedman-trained Cool Chap is the $6.50 favourite.