Is Spirit Of St Louis ready to take the throne?

With the five-year-old’s champion stablemate KING OF SWING now in retirement, there is an opening at the pointy end for Australia’s top seed.  

After running second to King Of Swing in both the Hunter Cup and Miracle Mile, Spirit Of St Louis has been the long-time favourite for Queensland’s Grand Circuit contest, The Blacks A Fake.  

His stocks rose further after Monday afternoon’s barrier draw when landing gate three to give his young gun driver Jack Callaghan plenty of options.  

Following his dominant Sunshine Sprint success, BETTER ECLIPSE will be relying on fortune from an inside second row draw when following out his stablemate TRIPLE EIGHT. Despite being rearward in last week’s Group 1 feature, Greg Sugars has changed commitments this weekend to partner Triple Eight from the inside alley.  

The wildcard inclusion of LIKE A WILDFIRE has certainly created some queries, with his form lines stacking up extremely well against the Victorians who have dominated the open class contests of this carnival so far. Untested on the Grand Circuit before Saturday, the confidence of the highly respected Tonkin Stewart team to bring him north for one race must be considered despite a wide gate. 

Another intriguing factor in tomorrow night’s feature is the early speed and how the map will play out.  

The obvious pace aspects off the arm are ALTA ORLANDO and TURN IT UP, who are both ranked as some of the fastest pacers from behind the mobile in the country. Which of the two find the fence first will be integral to their individual chances, however both look likely to take a sit over the longer distance on suitable horse.

In one of the more open Grand Circuit contests we’ve seen in some time, I’m siding with the heir apparent.

3 - Spirit Of St Louis

It was great to see him put a sub-par performance in the Mr Feelgood Open behind him last week when a slashing and unlucky second behind Better Eclipse in the Sunshine Sprint. Showing that trademark speed when seeing open road, he was very strong through the line and didn’t engage in an overly taxing run which is a big positive before this weekend's grand final. Also promising was the early speed shown last week, suggesting he should be able to find himself prominent from the three gate. I have him mapped finding the front and from there, he should hold all the aces.  

Don’t take too much out of the duck egg next to his name in last week’s Sunshine Sprint. Virtually impossible to get into the contest from the back of the field, he still ran the quickest sectionals of the contest when extremely wide. His Mr Feelgood Open run was dynamic and quite arrogant when dealing to his rivals over the 2138m and the extra step-up should really suit this older campaigner. The one gate looks perfect on paper, however he is not noted as a gate speed runner and may find himself shuffled back on the pegs. If he sees open space over the concluding stages, he will be as strong as anyone.  

The new kid on the block, this four-year-old has taken our game by storm in the first half of this season. An incredibly quick Chariots Of Fire win was followed up by a Miracle Mile placing, and he then broke through on the open class stage last week in the Sunshine Sprint. Aggressively driven, he also proved his versatility when showing some more toughness to add to his extreme high speed. The gate looks concerning, however he will be coiled away and doing no work while waiting for his opportunity.  

The surprise addition of this pacer has certainly muddied the waters, with his three slashing victories on return from a break including defeats of both Better Eclipse and Triple Eight. He looks in the zone and primed to take the next step, however the draw won’t make things easy for him.  

Three other Group 1 events will be staged as part of this elite 10-race card which will showcase the best Australia has to offer. A bumper crowd is expected on track with an improving weather forecast sure to entice many to Albion Park.

If you can’t make it on track, you won't miss a minute of the action on Sky Racing Active with wall-to-wall coverage kicking off at 4.55pm. 

BEST of the weekend – R6 N11 @ Albion Park Leap To Fame 

VALUE of the weekend – R1 N4 @ Albion Park Kashed Up

Brittany Graham is a regular host on Sky Racing and the Sky Racing Active app, plus In The Gig with Ben Way and Gareth Hall every Tuesday night on Sky Racing 2 from 6pm.

The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.