Arachnid will be out to maintain the winning record of Kalgoorlie gallopers in Perth when he contests the perthracing.com.au Handicap (1200m) at Belmont Park tomorrow afternoon.
The Ashley Grace-trained gelding will be attempting to emulate the feats of Gold Commodity, Black George and Simply Irresistible who have flown the goldfields flag proudly with three impressive victories over the past month at Ascot and Belmont.
Simply Irresistible could not have been more impressive last weekend when charging home from near last in withering fashion to record her third straight win this campaign.
If Arachnid, a perennial placegetter last season with a string of minor placings, can reproduce the form he has displayed this campaign he will prove to be more than competitive in upholding the Kalgoorlie form.
Two wins and a second placing from three starts has the six-year-old racing in the best form of his career and Grace is confident he can rise to the challenge in what will be his toughest race to date.
“This horse doesn’t know how to run a bad race and will be more than competitive,” Grace said.
“He hasn’t put a foot wrong this preparation and has never been better.
“The only miss was last-start when second to Major Canny but I think the month between runs didn’t suit.
“It won’t be easy up against the likes of Challis, Lady Doll and Dino Mak, but I’m sure he’ll put in another consistent effort.
“He deserves to have a crack at them and I’m looking forward to having my first city runner.”
Grace, an electrician by trade, has an impressive strike rate with a small team of horses including Vain Train, who surprised with a win in last week’s John Tieri Roofing Handicap (1400m).
The Kenvain four-year-old will be attempting back-to-back wins in the Sue Hoppmann & Cliff Smith Handicap (1400m) and Grace is looking forward to his development.
“We finally drew a barrier with him and it paid dividends,” Grace said.
“His previous three runs were from barriers 15, 16 and 13.
“He’ll go up in class on Sunday but it will give me an indication of where he’s at and how far he can go.”
Grace has advised punters to look for improvement in stable mate King For A Day in the Morgan & Kelly Families Maiden (1200m).
His record since arriving from Victoria hasn’t been impressive but a last-start effort when beaten by less than two lengths to Oriel could have been the turning point.
“He’s had a few joint issues since arriving to my stable which I’m confident we’ve addressed,” Grace said.
“That effort last week was the first run since we treated the injury and I’m expecting further improvement.”