Scone-based trainer Cameron Crockett is happy with the consistency of his stable but believes his recent record has been hampered by missing the key ingredient of luck.
He hopes that will change on Saturday when he saddles up the promising Step On Fire in the TAB Highway Class 3 at Randwick on Saturday.
Crockett runners have all been running well with four winners and another eight top four finishes from his last 15 runners.
Crockett though believes there should be greater numbers in the win column had it not been for bad barriers and failing to get the right runs.
“The last 15 runners should have produced about 10 winners to be honest,” Crockett said.
“We’ve had to overcome some terrible barriers and even Velaro in the Gilgandra Cup the other day, he never got off the bridle, and it was like a 1600m track gallop for him,” he said.
“We obviously train to win, but sometimes when you’re on a run like this you just need some luck to drop.”
Step On Fire is building up a nice record for connections with three wins and a second from only seven starts to date.
He put together successive wins at Muswellbrook and Scone before the four-year-old competed in a series of the TAB Highway in mid-December whee he finished fourth, but Crockett said he wasn’t at his best on the day.
“He’s normally a horse that’s a bit fractious at the races, but on that day he was really complacent,” Crockett said.
“I wasn’t surprised to see him come home a bit sore as he just wasn’t right.”
“We’ve got him feeling well enough now, so hopefully he can get a soft run and see out the 1200m.”
Crockett is worried about Step On Fire starting from barrier one on Saturday.
“I actually don’t like barrier one for him, I don’t want him to get cluttered up” Crockett said.
“But if he does manage to take a good position, and the tempo is right, it is obviously the shortest way home.”
The Randwick surface is currently rated a Heavy 8 but fine weather is forecast for Friday and Saturday.
