The future of Australian chasing will be on show on Friday night with five heats of the 2023 Group 1 Ladbrokes National Derby announced today.
Rising stars from both country and metropolitan NSW, Victoria and South Australia will descend on Wentworth Park, all vying for the chance to become the latest Derby champion and take home the $75,000 winners cheque.
In the opening heat, boom youngster Showman Jack will be looking to replicate his red-hot Wentworth Park of 2022.
The John Smart-trained chaser won eight times at headquarters last year with a personal best of 29.51 showcasing his explosive ability.
“He’s pulled up really good after that trip to Brisbane and he’s going enormous. I gave him a post to post him at Dapto and he flew around in 23.94 and came home in 12.04 which is humming so he’s ready to go,” Smart said.
“He’s really on song at the moment but he needs to have a bit of luck around that first corner. I’ve been holding him back for this age restricted race so hopefully he runs well. After this series, I’m looking forward to taking on the big boys with him though,” Smart added.
Showman Jack will be Smart’s first Derby runner, although the dog’s mother, Lovelace, was also trained by Smart and ran in three Group finals.
Heat 2 is headlined by 2022 Zoom Top maiden place getter and seven-time race winner Len Me Dad.
Ruth Matic will rug up the son of Winxette by Fernando Bale and believes her charge is ready to rock and roll after a third-placed effort of 29.96 at Wentworth Park last Saturday night.
“We had to give him a look at Wenty before the heats of the Derby but he was probably just a run short so I think he’ll take a lot of benefit from that. He hurt a shoulder in the back part of last year and spent a bit of time off the track so he’s been building back into form since and he’s ready to go now,” Matic said.
“He comes out of that Zoom Top race and the form has been really good. [Zipping] Orlando has won a lot of races and Kayla’s [Jane Coleman] dog [Rockstar Apollo] is running really well too so hopefully they can all keep it going,” she added.
Matic will be looking to win her second National Derby after taking out the race with World Park Ned back in 1983.
“We beat the favourite Billy Bale for the Wheeler’s that night and he went on to be pretty good. I remember having to go through qualifiers, heats and semi finals before the final back in those days so it was a bit different to how it is now,” Matic said.
The third heat is arguably the best of the five with the aforementioned Zipping Orlando, Million Dollar Chase maiden winner Canya Smoke Them, Victorian Group 1 finalist False Confidence and the promising Jack Smith-trained Palawa King all looking for a spot in the final.
Minnie and John Finn will send Zipping Orlando around on Friday night for the first time since his last start seventh behind Simply Limelight back on December 10.
“He’s going into the heats without a run which isn’t good really. He hurt a front leg trialling at Wenty a little while ago and we haven’t been able to get him back to the races since. He’s working well at home though, he’s a good dog and he’s drawn alright in Box 3 so hopefully he can get through,” Minnie Finn said.
The winner of eight straight races to start his career certainly enjoyed a fruitful first few months on the track - but a mixture of better competition, bad boxes and a trip to Melbourne saw him return indifferent results in the latter part of 2022.
“He wants the inside and I think he drew Boxes 6, 7 and 8 a lot late last year which killed him really. The trip to Melbourne was a good experience for him but, and even though he didn’t win down there, we liked what he showed us,” Minnie Finn said.
John Finn won the National Derby in 1985 with Rapid Supreme.
The penultimate heat includes the likes of Rockstar Apollo for Shaun Evans, the lightly raced Cartel Model for Jodie Lord, the Sam Sultana-trained Gozo King and highly rated visitor Scofflaw for Jeff Britton.
"He’s been going really well down here [in Victoria]," Britton said.
"He won a Free For All at The Meadows in 29.86 last start and he ran fourth in the Silver Chief behind Amron Boy two back, but he did trial at Wenty Park in between and only went 30.50 or something so that wasn't great," he added.
"We thought maybe he just didn’t travel that well so we've put it down as an ordinary run but I’ve sent him up to Alan Proctor a bit earlier this time to get ready. He's drawn wide in Box 7 so he’ll have to do everything right if he's to advance, but the series might suit him because he’s an older dog and he's got a bit of experience under his belt," Britton said.
While in the fifth and final heat, Weffalee Shield will make the trip south for Tony Forbes fresh off a big win in the Wauchope Cup.
“I was very impressed with the win [at Wauchope] and it didn’t knock him around one little bit, he’s jumping out of his skin actually and Box 1 will suit him down to the ground so we’re looking forward to it,” Forbes said.
“I looked at the Derby dates well before Christmas because you only get one chance at a race like this with these young dogs. I took him to Capalaba for a look against his own age last year and when he won the Derby up there I thought I’d try and target this race,” Forbes added.
Weffalee Shield has already won 12 of 23 starts and put 5.25 lengths on recent Lismore Cup winner Cataclysmic in the Wauchope Cup final to confirm his status as a real wildcard for the upcoming age-restricted Group 1 feature.
“He’s been to Wenty four times and he hasn’t got around the first turn without interference yet. He was very green in those early runs but he’s had some more education, he’s trialled and been racing a lot and he’s a different dog now.,” Forbes said.
“And you can’t get any better than Box 1 at Wentworth Park. He could even afford to miss the kick and hunt up along the rail if he has to because if there’s any trouble you can still run a race from the inside. If he can get some clean air down the back, I hope he can run really well as it’d be a great thrill to make a final of the Derby,” he added.
The winner of each of the five heats will progress to next Saturday night’s (January 21) Ladbrokes National Derby final, with the three fastest seconds also advancing.
The 2022 Ladbrokes National Derby was taken out by Slingshot Hooks for Darren Sultana.
GRNSW will also be hosting full showcase coverage of the Wentworth Park meeting on January 13 from 7pm AEDT when the heats of the Group 1 Ladbrokes National Derby and the Group 1 Ladbrokes National Futurity will be run.
All you need to do is head over to thedogs.com.au for all the action, or you can also catch the coverage live on Facebook and You Tube.
