Racing: Better track to suit Elblitzem

It's not only the locals who will be enjoying the predicted fine weather in Waikato in the next few days.

Te Awamutu galloper Elblitzem will be well suited when he steps out in his local Freight Lines-sponsored Cup tomorrow.

Elblitzem has yet to win a race in 10 starts on a heavy track.

The Te Awamutu surface was yesterday officially rated as a slow 8, the type of track Elblitzem has won five of his 11 starts on and been placed twice.

He has to carry 58kg topweight tomorrow, which will not make his task easy.

On paper, his form looks patchy.

Two starts back, fresh from a break, he finished an excellent second to Dasoudi on a very heavy track at Tauranga.

After tailing the field home at Ellerslie last start, he was found to have had cardiac arrhythmia, more commonly known these days, in horse racing, as a heart fibrillation.

It has to do with the heartbeat being slightly off centre and once a horse has recovered within 24 hours there is almost never an ongoing issue.

Elblitzem was ordered to barrier trial before next racing, to have an ECG and a full veterinary examination.

He narrowly won his Paeroa barrier and pulled up in a condition that has had trainers Robert Priscott and Clayton Chipperfield aiming at their local cup.

Having ridden him in each of his past 10 starts, David Walsh now knows Elblitzem well.

The horse's course stats would look even better if he hadn't been put off somewhat by a heavy track in this race last year.

He was slow in that race, went through to lead and although he was run down into sixth place, he was still only a fraction more than three lengths from the winner, Point Guard, a well-weighted rival again.

You have to have a good memory to recall the previous start on the track, November 2006.

He finished second in a one-win race, three weeks after leaving maidens on the same course.

John Gray is very good on his day, but he tends to mix his performances.

His runaway Tauranga win last start was very different to when he only battled into fourth at Ellerslie at his previous attempt.

He has only 53kg, which puts him in a good position to make it tough for the topweight with a 5kg advantage.

Hurricane Mickey would prefer it heavier than he's going to strike it, but his form is solid and on fitness alone he's going to beat more than beat him.

* This could be a red-letter couple of days for Anne and Wayne Herbert.

Tomorrow could see the reality of the win that is richly deserved for luckless sprinter Salvatore in the Quinlan Electrical 1150 at Te Awamutu.

And this morning sees the couple's son Jason go close to winning the final of the Find A Star talent quest on TV1.

The 19-year-old made his way through the semi-final with close to rave reviews early this week and a win this morning would be a good omen for Salvatore tomorrow.

The Cambridge sprinter deserves a change of luck.

It didn't come his way when he was narrowly beaten into second behind Just A Whisper at Ellerslie last start and the time before at Te Rapa was similar.

The heart-breaker was when he was narrowly beaten at Te Rapa in a race literally everyone thought he'd won.

David Walsh, who rides for the stable but wasn't on Salvatore that day, was so convinced Salvatore had won he made a special trip to the judge's box to view the official vision of the finish.

Regardless of how many times you watch that race you are certain Salvatore won.

But that's history and tomorrow is a chance to finally get that score on the board.

The 1150m is short of the 1400m which seems to be Salvatore's best distance, but they often pour the pressure on early at Te Awamutu because of the track configuration and events race longer than the distances they're carded over.

It suits horses getting home hard and Salvatore can do that.

Plenty of opposition once again - Spare A Fortune won two straight before being disadvantaged under 59kg at weight-for-age last time, but still managed second.

Pinzee and Sandblaster have been in the form to win and Just a Whisper looked good beating Salvatore at Ellerslie.

TE AWAMUTU CUP
* Elblitzem suffered a heart fibrillation when beaten at Ellerslie last start.
* He has fully recovered and won a barrier trial at Paeroa.
* The fine weather will allow him track conditions he prefers.