By Mike Dillon
If you fancy backing Able Master in Saturday's $350,000 NZ Derby at Ellerslie because of his laststart Derby Trial victory, you might consider doubling the bet.
Trainer Bruce Wallace did not see the Derby Trial win live last Sunday week, he was in Hong Kong where stable runner Darazari finished second in the $1.5 million Vase.
He admits he was not crazy about the victory when he first saw it on video.
It was not until he galloped Able Master on his private Takanini track the other day that he realised the value of the performance.
"He crossed his jaw in work, which is not like him. I couldn't understand it - until I opened his mouth and saw that four teeth needed capping.
"They must have been giving him hell."
Wallace noticed on the Ellerslie video coverage that Able Master did not seem himself in the prerace parade.
"He sweated up, which is also not like him, he's normally super relaxed.
"It's obvious now that his teeth must have been worrying him and it unsettled him before the race."
Typical of a Zabeel 3yearold, Able Master is a late developer who has burst into Derby calculation only since his dashing maiden win at Tauranga in mid-November.
He then struck an unsuitably wet track before winning the Derby Trial with a tough, grinding final sprint, which left little doubt he would cope with the step up to 2400m on Saturday.
Three-year-olds can fall away in condition when the final tough 10 days of Derby preparation is added to their workload, but Wallace is delighted with the way Able Master has gone forward.
"We've stepped up his distance work and he's not only maintained his condition, he's actually blooming. He's almost a bit pretty."
Wallace has yet to win the Derby and rates Able Master his best chance to do so since Lord Revenir finished fifth to Surfer's Paradise, Corndale, Sir Alberton and Play On in 1990.
Lord Revenir, ridden by Peter Johnson, started equal favourite with Surfers Paradise and broke down in the running.
"Peter had to pull him off his feet to clear trouble near the 800m and he did a suspensory ligament in the incident."
Able Master's Chinese owners arrive in Auckland tomorrow to see their horse race for the first time. Their only previous trip to New Zealand was when they purchased Able Master and another Zabeel 3yearold, Zabette, at the Karaka yearling sales as yearlings.
Able Master will be ridden by Wallace's stable apprentice Alan Peard, who did a good job to land the horse home in the Derby Trial.
The field for the Sleepyhead New Zealand Derby. -
8 NZ DERBY 4.20
Of $350,000, 3yo, no allowances, 2400m
1-2141Able Master t (4) 55.5
2-3275Amazing Charm (14) 55.5
3-4110Bewaioh tm (19) 55.5
4-5399Big Hustler (13) 55.5
5-0713Classic Surprise (2) 55.5
6-5128Defensive (18) 55.5
7-4155El Duce m (7) 55.5
8-8513Glace Star tm (6) 55.5
9-1761Just Call Me Sir m (8) 55.5
10-3184Mac `N' Fries (9) 55.5
11-1422Mr Millennium (16) 55.5
12-5540One Six Eight m (3) 55.5
13-3456Seasquill (17) 55.5
14-3123So Casual tb (11) 55.5
15-4731The Immortal One (10) 55.5
16-1819Tobruk (15) 55.5
17-1145Young Lochinvar b (12) 55.5
18-1522Nahayan (1) 53
19-7137Marebravo (5) 55.5
Emergency: Marebravo.
Pictured: Bruce Wallace
Tip straight from the horse's mouth
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