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James Rattray knows Ignatius faces an army of Emma Stewart rivals in the glamour race of tonight’s IRT Breeders Crown at Melton.
But that isn’t what worries the NSW trainer.
It is in fact Colt Thirty One who Rattray rates the greatest danger to Ignatius, a pacing powerhouse many think could be Australasian trots’ next big thing Ignatius was brilliant and brave when nosed out by swooper Poster Boy in their Breeders Crown semi-final at Bendigo.
There it took just one Stewart-trained horse to beat Ignatius, but tonight he faces six as the Victorian
super stable continues to produce staggering numbers in the elite age group races.
Rattray knows beating the super six will be hard, but he can’t let that be his sole focus.
“They will be hard, particularly Poster Boy, because he was very good beating us last week,” he
said.
“But I was very happy with my fella after sitting parked last week and he has trained on perfectly.
“He is exactly where he needs to be.”
With Stewart’s two mostfavoured representatives,Poster Boy and Ride High, drawn on the second row alongside Ignatius, the final could be a game of inches.
“We are probably all going to have to move at some stage, and that could mean one of us ends up in the right place and the others don’t,” Rattray said.
“But while I know Emma’s horses are going to be hard to beat, the fact she has six in there doesn’t
bother me.
“I’m sure their drivers will all drive their own race.”
That interstate game of cat and mouse from the second row could play into the hoofs of Victoria Derby winner Colt Thirty One, with the Queenslander drawn in barrier one and having the gate speed to be master of his own destiny.
“I think he is the one to beat, because at this level what run you get matters a lot,” Rattray said.
“But my horse is very good — I rate him every bit as good as (my dual Inter Dominion winner) Beautide, and he is probably more tractable.”
Despite being one of the great pacers of the decade, Beautide was luckless in Victoria, as Rattray has been himself — he has trained just two winners here in 31 starters and driven five winners from 65 attempts.
“It is always harder travelling horses and Beau never had much luck down here — but I think this horse (Ignatius) can change my luck,” he said.
