Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin

Big guns unleashed for title assault

With the Adelaide trainers’ premiershi­p delicately poised, Will Clarken and Niki O’shea are playing their best hand at Morphettvi­lle on Saturday.

Clarken and O’shea are tied atop the metro premiershi­p with Richard and Chantelle Jolly (43 wins) as the season culminates on Saturday, and it’s a title tug of war that may go down to the final race.

Clarken and O’shea, who are chasing a maiden premiershi­p, have an eye-catching arsenal of runners, headlined by Group 1 placegette­r Kuroyanagi, with star hoop Jamie Kah booked to ride in the Listed Lightning Stakes (1050m).

The stable also welcomes back Group 3 winner Boognish and smart mare Second To Nun, while another Group 3 winner, Extremely Lucky, returns from a competitiv­e racing stint in Melbourne – all three will line-up in a Handicap over 1100m.

Exciting 2YO Kuroyanagi has the stable musing on just how good she could be, the talented daughter of Written Tycoon was last seen finishing third behind Hayasugi in the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) in February, and returned more imposing in stature following a spell.

“We’re happy with her.

She’s growing and developing all the time,” O’shea said.

“She is definitely a stronger, bigger horse now, she’s not a giant, but she’s definitely a lot stronger than she was.”

The filly trialled at Balaklava on July 11, alongside stablemate­s Second To Nun and Extremely Lucky.

“She got a bit tired in that trial, but she hasn’t done anything wrong for us – she looks very exciting,” he said.

Another trip to Melbourne looks on the cards for the filly, but O’shea is still learning what her ideal distance is.

“I think she’s going to go to Melbourne, but I don’t know what the plan is, we’re still not sure what her trip is going to be,” he said.

“With her action being so big, you could see her heading down a Guineas path, but she might not want that far.”

The stable’s form galloper is four-year-old Favourite Child, who has notched four wins in a row. The mare is a shortprice­d favourite for BM82 over 1600m on Saturday.