The name of the race is the South Grafton Cup … but it is the Big Dance eligibility incentive surrounding the race that has attracted top trainers like bees to honey, in the process uplifting both the profile of the race and the competitive nature of the 1610m contest.
The heavyweight stables Bjorn Baker and Tony Gollan will each be represented by three runners. Tom Charlton, Matthew Smith and the Annabel and Rob Archibald camp, amongst others, are also due to have starters in this year’s South Grafton Cup as all of those involved chase a prize that extends way beyond the $38,750 that goes to the winner of the South Grafton Cup.
That is almost incidental to the main target of securing a place in the $3 million Big Dance, which will take place on that famous first Tuesday in November, although it will be at Randwick and not Melbourne. The first prize there is $1.5 million.
In the first instance, becoming eligible takes the form of winning, or finishing second in one of the Big Dance eligibility designated races … such as the South Grafton Cup … hence the importance of Saturday’s event.
Bjorn Baker holds a very strong hand in the race, not because of his numbers, but because of the very real threat that his runners pose.
Midnight Dynamite has raced six times this preparation for three wins … including a Listed Civic Stakes success over 1400m at Randwick in his penultimate start. He is on the seven-day backup after finishing third behind General Salute in the Listed Winter Stakes at Rosehill last Saturday. Midnight Dynamite will be ridden by Rory Hutchings. Barrier number 17 is a worry.
War Eternal has been in tremendous form over the last two-and-a-half months.
The seven-year-old got his second breath form-wise when heading for Queensland. On the way there he picked up a third placing in the Hawkesbury Guineas before rattling home to land a spectacular hat-trick of wins … which would, arguably, have seemed most unlikely just a month earlier.
Those wins came in the Bernborough Handicap, the Spear Chief Handicap and the Wayne Wilson, all Listed races on different racing surfaces … good, soft and heavy going … and all in races in which War Eternal had to show his fighting qualities to claim victory.
And then he signed off his superb Queensland Winter Carnival campaign with a runner-up finish behind Sun God in the Listed Tattersall’s Mile, just two weeks ago. He will be rock hard fit for Sunday’s assignment. The downside is he has been up for a very long time and, like his stable companion Midnight Dynamite, he has a wide draw possibly complicating his task.
War Eternal will be ridden by Nick Heywood.
Last, but not least, of the Baker-trained runners is Hollywood Hero, who will be ridden by Winona Costin.
Hollywood Hero will be third-up here and he could be capable enough to complete the 3-2-1 countdown after finishing third and then second in his first and second-up runs respectively.
Last time out he finished second to Emigrate who was putting back-to-back wins together. That suggests that the Chris Waller-trained Emigrate is no slouch. Hollywood Hero was only 0.25 lengths behind there while carrying 6kg more than the Waller winner.
You could say Hollywood Hero is knocking at the door.
Like the rest of the Baker team though Hollywood Hero has also drawn poorly.
As mentioned, this is now a very competitive race, but you would think that Baker wouldn’t swap any of his horses for any other horse in the race.
He’d swap barrier draws for sure but, like everything else in racing, Baker will have to play it as it lies.
Midnight Dynamite is at $5. War Eternal is at $5.50. Hollywood Hero is at $9.50.
They are all lining up behind the Tom Charlton-trained race favourite Mr Chaplin who tops the betting boards at $3.90. Hollywood Hero beat Mr Chaplin home last time and the Baker-trained runner is now 3.5kg better off at the weights.
