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Progressive Grafton stayer Special Miss can land back-to-back wins this afternoon when she lines up in the CRJC Premiership Winners Day Benchmark 66 Handicap (2200m) on her home track.
Photo by Racing and Sports
In a field comprised mostly of older and generally modestly performed stayers, the five-year-old trained by Hunter Kilner looks more than capable of landing a sixth career win from just his 15th start.
She’s still learning her craft, evidenced by her win last start over 1900m at Casino, a run which produced a weight-adjusted Timeform figure of 80.
Carrying the same 57.5kg she’ll lug today, thanks to apprentice Aidan Holt’s claim, she sat two wide in sixth spot for most the trip before hitting the front 175m from home and proving too good.
She did however begin awkwardly and laid out rounding the first turn before shifting in as she entered the straight and laying out again as she approached the post.
Despite all that the margin back to the second horse, Castlemagne King, was more than two lengths and she only meets him half a kilogram worse off today.
Special Miss loves her home track having won three of her five starts here to this point.
She’s untried over the 2200m but looks a capable staying type and the extra journey shouldn’t trouble her.
Stick with her to bring up another win today.
Castlemagne King is the obvious danger. He contested the Taree Cup over 2000m just eight days ago finishing 1.9L off Gazza Guru back in third place.
That run netted a weight-adjusted Timeform figure of 78 to go with the 76 he ran to when second to Special Miss two runs back.
He’s an eight-year-old with 10 wins from 81 starts, six of which have come at this track.
The trip poses a concern though, he’s unplaced in five starts over the journey. On current form though he looks the main threat, and he should be primed for this on the quick back up, and dropping back in grade.
Show Day is also a likely type, if he’s recovered from the thumps which curtailed his last-start effort at Casino when beaten 6.3L by Special Miss.
Prior to that he’d won a couple in a row at Ballina so if he’s recovered sufficiently he should get much closer this time around under jockey Matthew Paget.
