There is a winning history for Peter Lagogiane and box seven in the Million Dollar Chase, so the box draw would have drawn a smile from the trainer when his bitch French Martini got the number for Saturday night’s final at Wentworth Park.
Lagogiane is a two-time winner of $1 million first prize, and both came from box seven. Mystic Riot led all the way in the inaugural edition of the race in 2018 wearing the black rug, and Handsome Prince did the same two years later.
Peter Lagogiane-trained French Martini is the least experienced runner in the Million Dollar Chase Final but has drawn lucky box seven.
French Marini stamped herself as a challenger for the Million Dollar Chase by winning the Ladies Bracelet in fast time in May and overcame traffic problems at the first turn from box one to run 29.62 seconds for the 520m in her semi-final.
“They told me lightning doesn’t strike twice and we proved that wrong. Let’s hope we can prove that it can strike three times,” Peter Lagogiane said.
“She showed her tenacity [in the semi-final]. She just showed what she can do. She chased; that’s all she does.
“Beast Unleashed was the best I’ve ever had, and she’s the female version of him. That says it all. She’s a little beauty.”
French Martini is the $3.60 second favourite. The daughter of Aston Dee Bee goes into the final as the least experienced runner with nine wins from 16 starts, but she has won twice in four starts from the seven.
Veteran Zipping Kyrgios will once again carry the favourite tag into a big final at $3.40 after running 29.49s in his semi-final. He appears ideally boxed in three to find the front and should be hard to run down if he does.
Gatlin was the fastest qualifier in 29.28s from box four in the semi-final and is not without support despite again drawing a squeeze box in five.
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