Racing: Tough ask for young trotters

Sean McCaffrey knows his two exciting juvenile trotters are hardly in the right race at Alexandra Park tonight.

However, that doesn't mean they can't win.

The Cambridge horseman, like several trainers of favoured runners tonight, is already thinking ahead to May 30 and the Harness Jewels at Ashburton.

This means having your horses mentally and physically ready, which when you train two smart juvenile trotters like Gershwin and Royal Willie is easier said than done.

Juvenile trotting races are notoriously hard to get off the ground in the north, where the numbers are smaller than the south, and McCaffrey thanks the local clubs for putting on non-tote races so far this season.

"They have been good about it, considering they don't really have to run them," he says.

"And that has helped us get these two as good as qualified so they should both be going to the Jewels.

"But they still need racing and experience and that means taking on the older horses this week from the stand."

McCaffrey, who has a handy Jewels record, says there is little between Gershwin and Royal Willie and they can both easily trot a sub 2:0 mile, so they will be more than competitive in maiden company.

"The stand could be tricky. They have both been great from a stand at home and haven't looked like galloping but it is different on race night.

"But I think they can win with good manners.

"The better chance? Too hard to say but maybe Gershwin being drawn wider will have to stand for less time, so that might be enough to tip things in his favour."

The pair meet some handier-than-usual maidens in Allanah Hall and Everybody Knows so on a night when the trotters dominate with four of the eight races, the maiden could be more interesting than usual.

McCaffrey's stable star Yagunnakissmeornot drops back from last Friday's Trotting Derby to something easier in race four but the boss admits he wasn't thrilled with her latest effort.

"Last week is one of the few times she hasn't found the line in her races," he says.

"I am not sure what it is, maybe the 2700m or the fact they were such good horses she was up against.

"I have freshened her up this week and the 2200m is ideal for her but she is still on trial for the Jewels, because there is no point going all that way to finish fourth or fifth.

"But this is a free handicapping win for her and would get her an Alexandra Park bonus so it makes sense to start this week."

Plenty of other Jewels contenders contest races where they should be competitive as the meeting drops a level or two after the premiers of recent weeks.

Killer Queen (R3) was fifth in the 1:54.9 mile rate Sires' Stakes Final last week and drops back to a maiden race with the ace draw so makes obvious appeal.

Lusty Mac (R5) continued her steep improvement curve when fourth in a race she couldn't win last Friday so looks well placed, while Asuka (R6) is good enough to test the boys even from her second-line draw.

Three for Friday

Best bet: One Over Da Moon (Addington, R6): Good enough in group ones past two Fridays to win tonight with good manners.

Better placed: Yagunnakissmeornot (Alex Park, R4): Derby form dropping back to lower-grade races usually stacks up.

Drawn to win: Killer Queen (Alex Park, R3): Improving filly and while this is a maiden race most of her rivals are fellow juveniles.