Autridge Open Minded

The Informant's Dennis Ryan reports:

A number of factors make the return to racing of last seasons' champion three-year-old Xtravagant an intriguing scenario.

Perhaps the most significant is the more than half an inch of rain that has fallen overnight on Flemington racecourse ahead of today's Makybe Diva Stakes meeting. That has sent the track into what is described as Soft 5, which in New Zealand terms is somewhere in the slower range of Dead.

By the time Xtravagant's race, the Gr. 2 Bobbie Lewis Quality, is run as the sixth on the big programme some sort of pattern will have emerged. Importantly, the Bobbie Lewis follows immediately after the Danehill Stakes - featuring last-start Foxbridge Plate winner Saracino - down the same straight 1200-metre course.

Uncertainty about how the track might be riding was playing on the mind of Xtravagant's co-trainer Stephen Autridge when www.theinformant.co.nz spoke with him this morning. But one thing he's certain of is that in the circumstances he couldn't have a better ally than big-race jockey Damien Oliver.

“We could have done without this rain (13mm) overnight,” Autridge said. “They won't be bouncing off the track as we would have preferred, and now they're saying there's no obvious speed.

“Ideally we would have liked to see a truly run race to cart them along and our horse be in a position to finish it off.  At least with Damien on board he'll know what to do as things unfold. The draw (7) gives him options and down the straight six that's important.

“Whether the field splits will depend on a lot of things - what the wind's doing, how this rain has affected the going across the track - but at least Damien will be in the right spot to make the call.”

As for Xtravagant's readiness for his first race since the autumn and factoring in the temperature spike that forced him to miss his season-opener last Saturday, Autridge is open-minded.

“We're a long way from the grand final but I'm happy with him for the stage he's at. The thing I really like is the way he's been working, cruising along and finishing off, so we'll see how that plays out today.”