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Aaron Dunn will adopt a “gloves off” approach when he spears Bondi Lockdown out of the gate in Saturday night’s $1 million Garrards Miracle Mile.
“There is no point wondering,” Dunn said. “It’s the grand final, so I have to go forward and have a good look for the lead.”
Drawn barrier nine and likely to come out of gate seven, Bondi doesn’t see an overabundance of early speed inside him.
“It looks like Mach Dan will get out and have a look at King Of Swing and if he manages to cross the favorite then we’ll be there alongside him,” he said.
“It doesn’t appear there is as much speed inside me as there was in the Chariots, where it took me a whole turn to get across outside the leader.”
It’s unlikely any of Bondi Lockdown’s rivals will relish seeing the four-year-old, who produced a Pure Steel-like performance in the Chariots Of Fire, at their girth.
Bondi Lockdown has spent the past fortnight at James Rattray’s Southern Highlands stables and Dunn is buoyed by his stable star’s stunning piece of work on the training track on Tuesday.
“He took three seconds of the track record at James’ place,” he said. “His heart rate has been good and he’s eating fine.”
The Emma Stewart-trained Mach Dan is tackling his toughest assignment in career best form following a fast finishing fourth in the Del-Re National A. G. Hunter Cup and an all-the-way win in the Group 1 Newcastle Mile.
Driver Nathan Jack concedes the mid-row draw makes things tricky for a cosy run should Mach Dan not be able to cross King Of Swing at the start.
“The barrier (5) makes it pretty tough to get the front,” Jack said.
“King Of Swing is a quick beginner and it’s going to be hard for anything to cross him, unless we get a lot of luck early my horse could end up three back in the running line.”
The remaining Victorian representative in Australasia’s richest mile race is the Chariots Of Fire winner Better Eclipse, who fared badly in the barrier draw starting from the extreme outside barrier.
