Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Four-year-old Taking The Miki is the youngest mare in the $30,000 Allwood Stud Farm Race For Roses at Gloucester Park on Friday night, and star reinsman Chris Voak is bubbling with confidence.
Taking The Miki, trained by Jemma Hayman, will start from the inside of the 10m line in the 2503m stand, and Voak said: “All she needs to do is step and then she would be able to work her way to the front. If that happens, I think she would be mighty hard to beat.
“She got away at her first start in a stand (three starts ago when she led and won easily from American Bullitt and Acuto) and then at her second run in a stand in the Easter Cup the following week she bubbled out, when she didn’t have hopple shorteners.
“So, we learnt a lesson and we will have the pins back in this week, and I’m sure she will go well.”
In the Easter Cup Taking The Miki settled down in eleventh position before she surged forward to the breeze after a lap and then gained a good passage in the one-out, one-back position before finishing solidly to be third behind Hector and Street Hawk.
Taking The Miki then ran in a 2130m mobile event last Friday week when she raced three wide early and then in the breeze before taking the lead 450m from home and winning easily from Shehadi. “It was a brave effort,” said Voak. “And this week she has drawn better than her main rivals Three Rumours and Simply Shaz.”
Three Rumours, to be driven by Chris Lewis for Busselton trainer Barry Howlett, will start from 10m, and the Peter Anderson-trained Simply Shaz (Trent Wheeler) is the sole runner off 20m, with the Howlett-trained My Prayer (Mitch Miller) the solitary runner off the 30m back mark.
Three Rumours and Simply Shaz maintained their recent good form last Friday night when they finished fourth and fifth, respectively, behind Eighteen Carat in a 2130m mobile event. My Prayer galloped from the 20m mark in the Race For Roses 12 months ago before running home gamely from last at the bell to finish third behind Purest Silk and Vivere Damore.
Voak is also confident of strong efforts from Carabao (off the 10m mark in the 2503m Keep Up To Date On The Allwood Stud Website Handicap) and Onesmartfella (from the outside Barrier in the field of seven in the Allwood Stud For All Your Breeding Requirements Pace).
“With his closing speed I think Carabao should be a major player,” said Voak. “He has a good 55sec. half in him. I did a bit of work to get to the lead with him at his latest start (when a half-head second to Ideal Tomado in a 2100m mobile event at Bunbury).
“Onesmartfella has to be respected from the bad draw. It’s a slight drop in class after his second to Ima Fivestar General last week when he hit the front in the home straight and then peaked a bit.”