COUNTDOWN TO MONDAY

Here we are with three days to go until the 2011 Adelaide Cup and fingers are crossed that we can get through the next few days unscathed. It is exactly one month today that I put my mate GUYNO on the plane at Perth airport for his flight to Melbourne then held my breath that he would arrive safe and sound.The flight was fairly uneventful however the trip itself has been full of excitement.

GUYNO had his first run 5 days later at Mornington where he had a tough run to win the 2400m Mornington Cup in a photo.That win was both special and very satisfying, however I would be lying if I said it was expected. The next night the horse headed across to Adelaide and he has been here ever since. GUYNO had his first look at Morphetville last Saturday when he enjoyed a good run throughout to win the Lord Reims Quality over 2600m thereby signaling himself as a genuine Cup contender on Monday.

All of the travel and all of the planning has been done and we are now biding our time as we count down to Mondays big event. GUYNO is currently second favourite for the Cup behind the very impressive last start Flemington winner King Diamond. There are quite a few inform horses lining up for the event with over half of the field having won or been placed at their last start.I am not sure of the quality of the field but there certainly appears to be plenty of chances on form alone.

GUYNO has drawn a nice barrier in gate 7 which should enable Jason to position the horse to advantage from the get go. As with any race over a distance, it is important that both horse and rider can settle into a position early, relax in running and save something for the business end. Although there are a number of horses which like to race fairly handy in the run, I would be surprised if the Cup was run at break neck speed. There would have to be doubts on most runners getting a genuine 3200m and GUYNO is no different. All we can hope for is a safe passage throughout and I am sure the horse will give it his best shot.

With all the hard work now having been done, all that is left is for GUYNO to do some strong pace work on the course proper tomorrow morning then have a leisurely walk on Sunday before we head to the races on Monday. Last Saturday morning I took the horse for a light jog out in the middle of Morphettville and he came off the track like a fighting cock. I hope he gives me the same feel on Monday morning!