Vasari and Hayden Barnes demolish their rivals at Redcliffe nine days ago. PHOTO: Michael McInally.
Vasari can run a hole but Hayden won’t beat Brendan, says dad of Saturday night’s race
By Barry Lichter • 2 August 2019
Vasari won’t be winning at Albion Park on Saturday night but he’s drawn in the right place to place, says trainer Al Barnes.
The last-start Redcliffe winner has drawn the inside of the second row, at first glance a bad place for a horse who likes to roll.
But with pole runner Thatswhatisaid the leader and almost certain winner, Barnes is hoping Vasari can find enough early gate speed to hold his back or at least run three deep on the markers.
“Either way he should earn a cheque. If he trails all the way he can run a close second to Thatswhatisaid but he won’t beat him. He’s a very nice horse who hasn’t had much luck lately.”
Al Barnes with son Brendan who drives hotpot Thatswhatisaid against Vasari on Saturday night.Barnes knows the form of Jack Butler’s horse well, with his son Brendan the regular pilot.
With older son Hayden on Vasari, Barnes is hoping for a family affair at the wire but says his own horse is a real trick to drive.
“If Hayden fires him up, he won’t be able to stop him. You’ve got to keep him happy and not fight him.
“That makes it hard because I have to try to place him in races where we can do that. You can’t drive him aggressively at Albion Park because they don’t let you go and you have to kill him early if you shoot for the front.”
Barnes reports Vasari is feeling super after his Redcliffe win nine days ago when he went within three tenths of a second of the track record with his 1:55.2 mile rate for 1780 metres.
But Thatswhatisaid will be going a lot faster than that on Saturday night. A Menangle mile winner in 1:51.4, he couldn’t work clear last time but showed in his first two runs in the state that he would thrive with a win and second.
Vasari might be having his 84th start on Satrurday night but he continues to be a regular money spinner for Lincoln Farms and its partners Ian Middleton, Rod and Sue Fleming and Peter Jeffares.
He was the fourth highest money winner for Lincoln Farms in the season just ended with $34,759 in stakes, behind Make Way, Northview Hustler and Trojan Banner.
Vasari runs at 7.43pm NZ time at Albion Park on Saturday night.
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Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 1: Angelic Copy
4.53pm
“She’s done everything right and trialled really nicely. I think she’s forward enough to give some cheek. She’s only small. You like to think when you get a good two-year-old like her that they’ll get stronger and transition into a nice three-year-old but she hasn’t grown an inch. But she tries hard and enjoys being out there.”
Race 2: Major Copy
5.28pm
“I’m looking forward to seeing him. You never really know ’til you get to the races but he’s trialled well enough to start and I wouldn’t be surprised if he went a good race, despite the draw. He’s a nice sensible colt who’s done nothing wrong and he could develop into a really nice three-year-old.”
Race 6: Lincoln Wave
7.22pm
“He was starting to get into the habit of switching off so we trained him in blinds this week and he went pretty well. He was good from a standing start at the trials with shorteners in and Maurice was actually quite bullish about his standing start manners and thinks that, in time, he’ll end up being a quick beginner. If he steps well, and can land in the first one or two, he’ll definitely be hard to get round.”
Race 6: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.22pm
“He’s not spectacular from a stand but he will get away, albeit sometimes a bit slowly. Lincoln Wave has more speed than him but if it comes down to a slugfest he’d be too strong as he’s rock hard fit.”
Race 8: Prince Lincoln
8.23pm
“The blinds go back on this week and if he steps and leads like he did three starts ago that would make him the one to beat. He showed with that win that he’s above average and will be a serious chance.”
Race 8: Rivergirl Bella
8.23pm
“You could argue she’s a Cambridge horse but sometimes when you throw them in with the bear cats they lift their game and I thought she was really good here last week. Tony (Cameron) said she’d have finished a bit closer too if he hadn’t had to take hold of her close to home (when he ran out of room and hit a marker pole).”
Race 8: Sammy Lincoln
8.23pm
“We’ve got blinds on him this week. Harry said he lost concentration a couple of times last week, including at the top of the straight, and thought he’d be a bit more on to it with blinds on. I still thought his was the run of the race last time - none of the others could have done what he did - and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him score.”
