Racing: Wide draw a Railway nightmare

Lisa Cropp

Ann Herbert was lucky she was lying back in a reclining chair at 1pm yesterday.

Husband Wayne Herbert pulled up the fields for the $200,000 Railway at Ellerslie on Sunday and yelled: "Baldessarini's drawn No 19."

"If I hadn't been lying down, I'd have fallen down," said Ann Herbert.

Baldessarini has dominated Railway betting since his remarkable win at Ellerslie three weeks ago.

Seemingly the only possible obstacle to winning New Zealand's premier 1200m sprint was a wide barrier draw.

Winning Railways from wide draws is not impossible - Egyptian Raine did it a couple of years ago - but it's only one step down from impossible if the speed horses to beat are drawn inside.

After recovering from the initial shock Ann Herbert says she refuses to stress about the draw.

"There is absolutely nothing you can do about it, so we'll be there and we'll line up.

"It certainly won't stop us from starting."

Herbert felt better about the situation with the realisation that Lisa Cropp has the ride.

"For this job she is the best rider in New Zealand. Lisa is the best there is as a barrier rider - she has an incredible ability to get a horse out of the gates fast.

"When she rode Baldessarini at Otaki he had 58.5kg and drew the outside and she got him to fly the gates.

"She won the race in the first two strides."

Baldessarini has been heavily backed and the TAB did not change his quote after yesterday's draw.

His opening quote was $35 and the money has been so solid since his Ellerslie win he was quickly into $4 favourite.

"It's our worst possible result," said head odds-setter Paul Lally.

"With everyone wanting to punt him we couldn't really ease him out.

"If we thought the track was going to be firm we might ease him slightly, but that looks up in the air at the moment."

Ann Herbert was just as interested in the rain she saw pelting down at Ellerslie yesterday watching the races on television.

Heavy rain resulted in the Ellerslie surface being quickly downgraded to slow.

If Baldessarini could could cope with the track if it was still affected on Sunday then the disadvantage of the outside barrier position would be greatly negated.

"He's not advantaged on rain-affected footing, but he can manage it.

"We've raced him a couple of times in the wet and he's gone okay."

Baldessarini staggered everyone with the strength of his Ellerslie victory when he had not galloped right-handed previously.

Very few horses given that scenario could have done what he achieved in easily running past Royal Entertainer in the home straight to win untested.

Royal Entertainer franked that form with a convincing Newmarket victory on Boxing Day.

If Baldessarini had drawn inside No 6, the Herberts would be the happiest trainers in New Zealand.

"We couldn't be happier with the horse," said Ann Herbert.

"He's a good-doing horse that, unlike some sprinters, actually takes a fair bit of work.

"After each race he might have a couple of relatively light days then it's pretty much back to business as usual. He never ever leaves any feed and gets gross pretty quickly if he isn't kept right up to the mark."