Can Turn Me Loose win the Group 1 Darley Classic?
LOGIC would say proven middle-distance horse Turn Me Loose can’t win the Darley Classic over 1200m at Flemington on Saturday, but co-trainer Murray Baker isn’t ruling out an upset win.
The five-year-old finished eighth fresh up, but due to an injury-enforced layoff earlier in the year, the spring hasn’t materialised how Baker would have liked.
“These colts can get quite fat when they are off and with the desperate winter we’ve had at home it has taken a long while to get him fit,” Baker said.
“We brought him over here to give him a couple of races as there is nothing suitable for him at home.”
Its run behind Star Turn in the Schillaci Stakes on October 8 was run over 1100m and it will again target another unsuitable sprint race.
“He’d been off a while and it was the shortest race he’d ever been in,” Baker said.
“They went pretty quick but he was winding up nicely towards the finish and the run did him the power of good.”
Baker knows the distance on Saturday won’t suit Turn Me Loose ($34 at Sportsbet), but he believes his runner is working well.
“He’s absolutely thriving, but the race is probably too short for him,” Baker said. “We’re giving him his chance and he is really going well.
“They always say you need a 1400 metre horse for the straight so I’d like to think he’ll be running on at the finish and you never know – he’s a very good horse.”
Turn Me Loose will head home after the Darley Classic before targeting the Group 1 CF Orr Stakes in the autumn.