Blizzard ready for Centenary Sprint Cup test
BLIZZARD ($9.50 at CrownBet.com.au) faces a tough test in Monday’s Group 2 Centenary Sprint Cup at set weights, but trainer Ricky Yiu believes it’s capable of an upset.
The five-year-old has won its last two starts, with its most recent win coming in the Group 3 Chinese Club Challenge Cup. Yiu knows it won’t be easy going up against some talented runners at set weight conditions, but his horse couldn’t be any better.
“He’s working good!” Yiu said. “He’s a horse that is full of energy.
“It’s definitely tough but he can win on Monday. His last two wins were good, especially his last one, and he has performed over the 1200m before so coming back in trip isn’t an issue.
“I had Nash (Rawiller) booked but he can’t make the weight so Umberto Rispoli will ride, now we just have to hope for a good draw!”
Yiu is looking forward to the race on Monday up against the likes of Hong Kong Sprint champion Aerovelocity, but says Blizzard’s grand final comes in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup in February.
“His grand final will be the 1400m group one next month,” Yiu said. “That’s his best distance and the race that will suit him best, and it would have been too long between runs to go straight in, so Monday’s race is the best to get there.
“The owner thought about the mile (the Stewards’ Cup) but I think 1200m into 1400m is right.”
Race-rival Strathmore will also find it difficult on Monday, according to the ratings, but trainer Tony Milliard isn’t ruling out its chances.
“He’s been a little bit unlucky, some of the runs that he’s had,” Millard said. “He’s just been one of those horses.
“Earlier in the season, we had a hiccup with him and we were a little bit on our back foot going into the internationals. But he’s worked well, he’s come out of the Hong Kong Sprint well and fresh and I expect that he’ll run a nice race.”
The $21 chance at Sportsbet could head to Dubai if it’s victorious at Sha Tin on Monday.
“If he won on Monday we’d look at Dubai after this,” Millard said.
“I don’t think he needs to get his rating up, he ran third behind the Australian sprinter (Chautauqua) and in front of most of this lot in the Group 1 (Chairman’s Sprint Prize) at the end of last season.
“It’s not that he’s not good enough, I think he’s definitely in that league, we just need a bit of luck.”