A brilliant trial win and a possible Doomben track bias have combined to persuade trainer Helen Page to send Rudy round in open company at Doomben.
Rudy hasn’t started since finishing second last in the Queensland Derby over 2400m in June when he was forced to lead from the outside barrier and weakened in the straight.
However, the rest of his winter form showed Rudy was up with top class gallopers with two placings in Group company and a feature Listed race win.
Page had entered Rudy for Saturday’s Class 6 over 1100m and the Qantac Open (1200m) but elected to tackle the better company.
Rudy trialled at the Gold Coast on September 30, winning by four lengths over 1000m in 58.7sec, a second faster than any other trial that morning.
“The trial was sensational and showed he had come back stronger this time,” Page said.
She said she had been toying with starting Rudy in the 1100m race on Saturday but noticed the apparent bias towards front runners at Doomben.
“I was sitting at home last Saturday with my husband John watching the Doomben races. The leaders seemed to be winning and the backmarkers had trouble getting into it,” Page said.
“John said we better put him in the 1200 metre race to get that extra bit of distance. He has the minimum and Michael Cahill will ride him.”
Rudy is likely to have a light campaign with as few as three runs.
“We wanted to give him a good spell and he has come in a bit late to go to Melbourne,” Page said.
“At this stage he can have a light campaign with his final in the Listed Recognition Stakes over 1600 metres in late November. He can then have another break and we can talk about the Sydney autumn.”
Rudy has won five races, four on heavy tracks, but Page scoffs at suggestions he is just a mudlark.
“He is as good on the dry and it is just he has had bad luck when starting on good tracks while he is a superior wet tracker,” she said.
