Last year’s Palmerston Sprint runner-up The Captain will look to go one better in the 2021 renewal at Fannie Bay Racecourse in Darwin on Saturday.
After going down by the narrowest of margins to stablemate Enigman in last year’s event, The Captain looks poised to reverse his misfortune and take out the feature on Saturday at Fannie Bay.
With premier trainer Gary Clarke taking out the last three running’s of the Sprint, Clarke is confident his rising nine-year-old gelding is more than capable of atoning his defeat.
The Captain comes into the race as a deserved favourite second-up, having taken out the Silks WFA Darwin Stakes a fortnight ago. He defeated his closest rival Smuggling who he meets again in the Sprint, by just under three lengths.
The courageous gelding is tasked with carrying 62kg following his comprehensive first-up victory but has tasted success many times prior when lugging north of 60kgs.
“I suppose that’s the penalty you pay for being an ultra-consistent horse, you have to carry the weight,” Clarke said.
“He’s going as good as he’s ever gone, he’s just an old marvel really. He’s going on nine-years’-old and he’s going as good now as what he was when I first got him three years ago,
“He’s just the ultimate professional and a pleasure to have around the stables. You take him to the races and nothing phases him, he gives you 110% every time he goes around.”
Jarrod Todd will again pilot The Captain, having saluted seven from his eleven rides on the gelding.
While Clarke is a moral to take out the Trainer Premiership for the ninth consecutive year with 71 winners and counting in the 20/21 season, Todd; Clarke’s stable jockey is also looking to go back-to-back in the Jockey Premiership having ridden 54 winners this season.
If The Captain is to salute in Saturday’s Palmerston Sprint, it would make it four years on the bounce for Clarke and his team in taking out Darwin’s the feature, who he is always sure to credit for his long list of successes.
“I have a good team, a good team of workers. Just like any successful business you’ve got to put the right people in the right jobs and have a good support team and that’s what I’ve got,” he said.
The Captain leads the Palmerston Sprint market as a $3.70 favourite with tab.com.au ahead of the Chris Nash-trained filly Mayameen who stands as a $5.50 second elect.
