Racing: Luckless stayer gets his chance

Davina Waddell would like to think she has used up all her bad luck when it comes to All's Well cracking a major cup win this campaign.

Up until now little has gone right for one of the favourites for the Gallagher Group Marton Cup at Awapuni tomorrow.

The trainer and co-owner of the most exciting stayer to emerge from PQ ranks this season was adamant she had All's Well spot on to take the Avondale Cup on December 1.

But then disaster struck just two days out from the race when a hoof puncture threatened to skittle Waddell's dreams of winning her Holy Grail.

Right up until 8 o'clock the night before the race, the wound was so bad Waddell was convinced she would have to scratch.

It was only the addition of a hoof pad on the tender front foot that allowed the beach-trained All's Well to take his place in the field.

"Without that special pad there was no way he was going to make it," said Waddell.

"He was okay when he had it on, but very lame with it off. There was still a little bit of flesh poking through his foot, it was pretty bad."

Given his 18 alley, the state of his foot and the work that he missed, rider Mark Du Plessis and Waddell still don't know how All's Well managed to run such a close-up fifth to The Mighty Lions at Avondale.

Factor in that he also returned to scale minus the shoe and the pad protecting the wound and you know why Waddell is so confident of payback at Awapuni tomorrow.

"We still haven't found the shoe and the pad so we don't know exactly where he lost it," said Waddell.

"But I do know that if he hadn't had the foot problem I'm convinced he would have won the Avondale Cup."

With the injury problems behind her, Waddell then headed to Ellerslie for the Auckland Cup with All's Well.

But after an impressive PQ lead-up win over Kerry OReilly and War Dancer, both subsequent winners, All's Well got stuck on the Cup ballot.

If All's Well had made the field Waddell had a commitment from Du Plessis to ride her Lowell gelding.

It was only when it became apparent All's Well wouldn't gain a start that he switched to eventual Auckland Cup winner Bazelle.

"The way he was going I was confident he would have been very hard to beat in the Auckland Cup and so was Mark," said Waddell.

"Mark has told me he'll come back to ride this horse as long as it doesn't clash with anything in Singapore."

Waddell has Lisa Cropp aboard at Awapuni tomorrow.

Cropp will need to push All's Well forward from yet another wide barrier.

But Waddell says the horse's natural gate speed should be enough to overcome the bad marble.

If she does have a concern it's that All's Well may not be as lethal the left-handed way round.

"He cost himself the Dargaville Cup by getting off balance and going wide on the turn," she said.

"But in saying that Awapuni is a much roomier track and because he doesn't train on a track enough to get used to one direction, it shouldn't be an issue.

"I wouldn't be going all the way down there with just one horse if I didn't think he was a winning chance."

Waddell yesterday still had All's Well in the early nominations for the Wellington Cup on January 29.

But one of her first calls after hanging up with the Herald was to the Wellington Racing Club to withdraw from the Trentham feature.

"I don't want to be tempted by the way he runs on Saturday," said Waddell.

Waddell said she has plenty of options for All's Well in the autumn, which may include an Adelaide Cup campaign.

Rival trainer Richard Coxon has all his Wellington Cup hopes hinging on Desert Flight's effort at Awapuni.

Coxon was rapt with the horses lead-up for seventh in the Rich Hill Mile at Ellerslie on January 3 and expects Desert Flight to run a big race.

"Maybe a 2000m race would have been preferable at this stage but I don't think the step up to 2200m will worry him too much," said Coxon.