Dwayne Dunn will be back aboard in-form Ability in the rescheduled Bletchingly Stakes
Dwayne Dunn will be back aboard in-form Ability in the rescheduled Bletchingly Stakes.
Dunn filled in for a suspended Craig Williams on the Robert Smerdon-trained Ability last start, winning the Listed All Victorian Sprint Series Final at Flemington.
Williams was to ride Ability in Saturday’s Group Three Bletchingly (1200m) but the race was one of five abandoned at the Caulfield meeting because of dangerous winds.
The Bletchingly has instead been added to the Grand National Hurdle and Crisp Steeplechase meeting at Sandown on Sunday, with nominations closing on Tuesday.
Williams delayed a holiday until the end of the current season to successfully chase a sixth Melbourne jockeys’ premiership.
“Having achieved his mission of winning the premiership, Craig’s having a couple of weeks off so it necessitates a jockey change but it will be the bloke who rode him last start and won on him anyway,” Smerdon said.
Smerdon doesn’t anticipate the extra eight days to be a problem and Ability will gallop at the Sandown circuit in the lead-up.
“He was three weeks between runs and he’s now going to be four but he’s got the opportunity to go to Sandown on Wednesday morning for a gallop so we’ll take advantage of that,” Smerdon said.
“He’s ticking along really well.
“He worked really well last Tuesday, so he’ll have another hit-out at Sandown on Wednesday and that will keep him ticking over for Sunday.”
Multiple Group One winner Lankan Rupee, who will make his much-anticipated return in the Bletchingly, is also scheduled to gallop at Sandown on Wednesday along with his Mick Price-trained stablemate Duke Of Brunswick.
Ability is unbeaten in three starts this campaign since being gelded and faces his biggest test in the weight-for-age race.
“I think when you look at the ratings of the horses he’ll be coming up against and you consider how he would meet them under handicap conditions, he would be getting quite a bit of weight off horses like Supido and Lankan Rupee,” Smerdon said.
“Now you’ve got to give up that and see whether you can beat them on level terms.
“It’s a class test in that regard and depending on how he deals with that will determine what’s next for him.”
