Breeders Crown: Moran hopeful of another Red-letter day

David Moran will tread the fine line between immediate success and long-term glory in tomorrow night’s TAB Breeders Crown pacing semi-finals, when the reinsman will have to extricate elite talent from challenging situations.

For leading trainer Emma Stewart, who has a stunning 17 runners in the eight semi-finals, Moran will steer Ladies In Red, Loorrim Lake and Jacks Hawk, with the former two favourite to win their finals but troubled by drawing outside the front row tomorrow night.

“Tomorrow’s not the grand final, so we will just make sure we qualify, get through and hopefully get a better draw next week,” Moran told RSN 927 this morning.

He was speaking about Ladies In Red, who’s unbeaten in her five starts heading into to tomorrow night’s Captain Crunch 2YO fillies semi-final, the first race on the program.

Her gate seven draw is outside stablemate Treachery (gate three), who has subsequently opened a $1.85 favourite for reinsman Greg Sugars.

“(Ladies In Red’s) got that x-factor, it’s a bit of an unknown (as to whether she can sit outside Treachery and win) or not,” Moran said. “I think it would probably be a little bit hard for her.”

Moran faces a similar scenario with Loorrim Lake, who will contest the IRT Australia three-year-old colts and geldings semi-final, which streams at 8pm on Trots Vision.

“(Loorim Lake’s) another one with a bit of x-factor, we probably haven’t seen the best of him just yet,” Moran said.

“He seems to have gone through his grades pretty well so far and handled what he’s had too. Seems to be capable of doing it again tomorrow night.”

The reinsman faces an entirely different scenario with Jacks Hawk, who’s drawn the pole but with the threat of a very fast beginner on his outside in the VHRC Caduceus two-year-old colts and geldings semi-final.

That presents the challenge that Jacks Hawk could be crossed by Watts Up Sunshine and then double-crossed should stablemate Act Now slide to the front.

“Watts Up Sunshine gets out extremely quick,” Moran said. “Probably worst-case scenario we are going to be is three-fence, but if (Jacks Hawk) can hold up he will be hard to beat. If he can’t hold up and is behind the leader or three fence he can still win.”

It’s just a snap shot of the real-time decisions Moran will have to make at Tabcorp Park Melton, and doesn’t even account for the fact that he welcomes back his stable star Lochinvar Art, fresh from his October 10 win in the Pryde’s EasiFeed Victoria Cup.

The four-year-old, who’s won 21 of his 42 starts and $885,376 in stakes, starts from outside the back row in the middle-distance TAB Preux Chevalier Free For All, where he’s enlisted a $1.28 favourite with Cruz Bromac ($6) next shortest in the market.

“He’s trained on really good,” Moran told RSN 927’s Form Express. “He’s pretty wound up. Obviously he will take a little bit out of this week for next week, but he’ll be reasonably close to the mark.”

The reinsman will also steer Santa Casa Beach for trainer Russell Jack in the second three-year-old colts and geldings semi-final, and said he would look to go forward from gate six “and then figure out what we are going to do from there”.

And then he caps his night driving John Yeomans’ Its Ebonynivory, who finished third in her Pryde’s EasiFeed three-year-old fillies heat and will start from gate three in tomorrow night’s semi-final.

“She was really good,” Moran said. “It was a slowly run heat early to mid-race, which allowed her to get into it, but she just stuck it out really good. I think she’s a little place chance tomorrow night and to qualify for the final.”

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