Orville Clarke, Freelance Writer
Kentucky Derby favourite Brother Derek walks the track with exercise rider Francesco Alvarado during early morning workouts at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, yesterday. Brother Derek, trained by Dan Hendricks, will run in the 132nd Kentucky Derby today.- REUTERS
OVERNIGHT ALLOWANCE horses hold centre stage at Caymanas Park today when they contest the Frankie Frazer Memorial Cup over 1300 metres, one of the oldest trophy races on the calendar.
Run in memory of popular jockey Frankie Frazer who was killed in a spill at Knutsford Park in the 1950s, the race, which was first run in the late 1960s, is one of three offering trophies on the 11-race programme.
The others are the $200,000 - $170,000 claiming race for the Clifford Stewart Memorial Cup to be contested by eight starters over 1200 metres and the four-year-old and up restricted allowance race for the Gerald Farquharson Memorial Cup over 1400 metres in which 14 starters have been declared.
Eight have been declared for the Frankie Frazer Memorial, including the recent winners THUNDER SQUAD, with leading jockey Charles Hussey riding for his brother Percy, and MONEY DANCER, to be ridden by former champion Trevor Simpson riding for many-time champion trainer Philip Feanny.
BATTLEOX, who was not disgraced behind his in-form stable-companion ROYAL COMMAND in last Saturday's Ambassador's Trophy over 1700 metres, should enter the reckoning over this shorter trip along with DIGI N' JIGGY, MINISTEROFFINANCE and MEDICAL REPORT.
HEARTOFAMAVERICK, who won the William Read Memorial Cup over the distance in fine style last December, would be expected to do well in a race of this nature, but his recent form is not encouraging. Champion trainer Wayne DaCosta's main hope must be HEARTOFAMAVERICK's stable-companion, the front running DIGI N' JIGGY, who is not only ideally suited to the distance but looks tempting at the weights (53kg), especially with champion jockey Brian Harding taking the ride.
BATTLEOX is also on a convenient mark and should make a race of it along with MEDICAL ACCOUNT and MINISTEROFFINANCE, neither of which is too high in the scales with 56kg.
And MONEY DANCER, though stepping up in class after her narrow win, has scope for improvement and should prove a competitive factor.
BEST EQUIPPED
Still, the one best equipped to pull it off is Ruth Hussey's THUNDER SQUAD, who looked the part when scoring easily over 1400 metres on April 8. He won Division I of the overnight allowance race which saw MYSON landing Division II within an hour of each other.
THUNDER SQUAD scored by 2 1/2 lengths from stable-companion GUIDING LIGHT and BATTLEOX, covering the distance in the fairly good time of 1:26.3 which was four fifths of a second faster than the time posed by MYSON in Division II.
THUNDER SQUAD continues to look the part at exercise and although he can expect stiff opposition from DIGI N' JIGGY, in particular, should prove equal to the task even with top weight of 57kg.
Other firm fancies are last Saturday's scorer RUCKUS to repeat in the Clifford Stewart Memorial Cup, consistent PECKUS OUT over HAIL THE I and HIGH GRADE in the Gerald Farquharson Memorial, MUSICAL MAESTRO in the fifth and MANISH in the ninth.
