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Sydney premiership leader Brenton Avdulla will join forces with Lee Freedman on Friday in a bid to give the leading Victorian trainer his third win in the $180,000 Albury Gold Cup.
Freedman won his second Albury Cup last year with Tom Melbourne, some 27 years after his first with Abstraction in 1989.
He now hopes he only has to wait 12 months for his third victory with the much-travelled Cool Chap, a four-year-old he prepares in partnership with his brother Anthony.Cool Chap has raced in Melbourne, Hobart and Canberra at his last three starts and now finds himself heading to Albury in a bid to end a frustrating run of placings in feature races.
Last season’s VRC St Leger winner was second in the Sale Cup and fifth in the Ballarat Cup last spring. Since resuming he has finished second to Big Duke over 2040m at Moonee Valley, fifth in the Hobart Cup (2200m) and was runner-up at his latest start on in the Canberra Cup (2000m) on March 5 won by Dark Eyes.The Big Duke form is strong as that horse went on to finish second in the Hobart Cup, win the Launceston Cup and last Saturday claimed victory in the Manion Cup at Rosehill after a successful protest.
Avdulla, leading both the Sydney premiership with 57 wins and the NSW ladder with 89 wins, rode Cool Chap in the Canberra Cup and Freedman is pleased the Sydney star is sticking with the four-year-old."Cool Chap was just beaten in the Canberra Cup," Freedman said. "He is in good form and the Albury Cup looks a good race for him.”
The Canberra Cup will be a sold reference for the Albury Cup as third placegetter Coolcat Dancer is also in Friday’s field.Braidwood-trained Coolcat Dancer had won four successive races prior to the Canberra Cup including the Moruya and Bega Cups and the Canberra Cup Prelude.
Victoria’s leading stables will go head to head in the Albury Cup with classy runners representing Darren Weir and Lindsay Park team of David Hayes, Tom Dabernig and Ben Hayes.The imported 2015 Italian Derby winner Goldstream will be record-breaking trainer Darren Weir’s first Albury Cup starter with apprentice Ben Allen as his rider.
Goldstream won his first race in Australia over 2000m at Flemington in January and followed up with a last start second in the Listed Victoria Cup (2o00m) at Caulfield on February 25 won by Boom Time.Lindsay Park has decided to start two of their three Albury Cup entries Extra Zero and Bold Sniper.
Evergreen veteran Extra Zero will line-up for a record fourth time under the topweight of 58.5kg as a 10-year-old.The tireless gelding, a veteran of 96 race starts, won the Albury Cup in 2012 when he gave David Hayes his second win after Growl’s success in 2009. Extra Zero also finished second in the Albury Cup 2011 and was 11th in 2014.
Andrew Mallyon will ride Extra Zero while Cory Parish will partner Bold Sniper, the imported stayer owned Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.Extra Zero and Bold Sniper finished second and third in the recent Wangaratta Cup (2000m) won by Our Century on March 5.
The Wangaratta Cup was Extra Zero’s third placing from four starts this year while Bold Sniper was first-up from a spell.Bold Sniper started in last year’s Albury Mile on Albury Cup day, finishing seventh. He has since won twice in Melbourne over 2400m at Sandown and 2040m at Moonee Valley.
