Surprise packet Scallopini set to swoop in BRC Sprint
When Scallopini lines up in the $300,000 Group 3 BRC Sprint at Doomben on Saturday, trainers Steven O’Dea and Matthew Hoysted will be hoping for more surprises from the veteran campaigner.
The top betting sites have him at $7 for the 1350m race, where he will be resuming from a Victorian raid where he won back-to-back races at Flemington in the Listed Elms Handicap and Group 3 Shaftesbury Avenue Handicap.
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He will jump from gate 11 this weekend, but those last two wins came from the wide gates also, in 13 and 14, so he tracks strongly closer to the carpark.
He has proven to be a surprise packet progressing through to record 13 wins from 41 starts and now, at eight years old, he continues to show his class and ability.
“It is strange to think he is an eight-year-old and we are still learning things about him,” said O’Dea.
2023 Shaftesbury Avenue Handicap replay
1st – Scallopini
Scallopini has come to enjoy getting into open air from the gates and leading in his races — a trait that was not seen earlier in his career.
“He is a horse who has never previously led and won before until he did those both times at Flemington,” O’Dea said.
“It just goes to show that both times there he has really enjoyed being out in front.
“He had his ears pricked coming around the turn and has obviously given a really good kick by going through his gears as he’s liked.”
He is the top weight but it can be expected that he will be storming home under Boris Thornton with challenges to be thrown down by an open field that includes some strong formlines.
Dark Destroyer ($23) enjoyed Group-level success in the Rough Habit Plate and New Zealand’s Tarzino Trophy last year, while race favourite Cardinal Gem ($5) resumes after winning his last two starts in the Group 3 Victoria Handicap and Listed Anniversary Vase.
Last year’s edition was won by the Mark Currie-trained Soxagon, who is now retired, with sprint star Alligator Blood running second and Niccanova third.