Craig Kerry
Team Hawkes is counting on a case of deja vu from man of the moment James McDonald and in-form mare Gangsta Granny when they face another wide gate in the last race on Saturday.
McDonald took Gangsta Granny from gate 11 to sit outside the lead before the four-year-old daughter of Written Tycoon kicked late to win the Wenona Girl Quality by three-quarters of a length at Randwick three weeks ago.
It capped a memorable day for McDonald, giving him six wins to equal the Saturday Sydney haul of Jim Cassidy in 1987.
McDonald then climbed to record heights last weekend, scoring a group 1 treble to move two past Damien Oliver’s record of 129 wins at the top level for an Australian-based rider.
The premier jockey has another stellar book of rides on Saturday with group 1-winning imports Ohope Wins (Vinery Stud Stakes) and Barnavara (Neville Sellwood Stakes) favoured to win on debut for Chris Waller in Australia. He is also on stablemate Aeliana, which was odds-on to add the group 1 Tancred Stakes to her Ranvet Stakes victory last weekend.
He faces a difficult task in the last, the group 3 Star Kingdom Stakes (1200m), at Rosehill when he rides Gangsta Granny from the extreme outside gate. She was still a $5.50 chance and co-trainer Michael Hawkes hoped McDonald could again overcome a poor draw.
“It’s disappointing,” Hawkes said.
“You’re trying to draw decent barriers for horses and two runs in a row you’re drawing out wide.
“Anyway, world’s best jockey’s on, so he’s just going to have to jump out and try and give her a run like he did last start.
“She’s going well enough. She’s improved off her first-up run. From a horse point of view, she’s improved out of sight.
“I thought she’d be hard to beat, but in saying that, barriers win races. I know she drew wide the other day and that was first up, but she’s well, I can’t fault her. She’s just going to need a lot of luck.”
Joe Pride-trained King’s Secret was a $4.20 favourite on Thursday from gate 12 in an open edition of the Star Kingdom.
Hawkes said the group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville on April 25 could be a next target for Gangsta Granny, which is also nominated for the TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on April 4. That $3 million race on day one of the Championships is the next stop for stablemate Briasa.
The defending TJ Smith Stakes champion made a strong return in the group 1 Galaxy (1100m) last Saturday at Rosehill when coming from gate 10 with the top weight of 58.5kg to finish a close fourth in a blanket finish won by Marhoona.
“Briasa’s run was outstanding,” Hawkes said.
“It was huge. He couldn’t win with 58 on a wet track, and, well, he’s only got beaten 30 centimetres and run fourth.
“If it was a dry track, he probably still wins, to be fair. But he’s on song and getting ready for TJ.”
