By Craig Kerry
Randwick trainer Michael Freedman is confident Yiska is well placed to score back-to-back wins, but he is cautious about the prospects of Time To Boogie at Rosehill tomorrow. Freedman has just the two runners on the program and both were favourites with Sportsbet yesterday.
Yiska, a Smart Missile gelding, won his final run last preparation, a midway benchmark 72 handicap (1100m), and resumed at Canterbury on November 20 with a photo-finish victory over Accredited in a similar race.
Yiska wins a Midway at Rosehill in June, and Michael Freedman is confident he can fire again tomorrow.Credit: Getty Images
Up to 1300m and 78 grade tomorrow in the last, Yiska is a $3.60 top elect with the gun draw in barrier one and apprentice Zac Wadick taking three kilograms off.
“He won well first up, and he seems to have trained on all right,” Freedman said. “He’s drawn a good alley there, and I hope the weather stays all right because he doesn’t like it if it gets too soft.
“He’s trained on well from his first-up win and I thought this looked like a good option for him, with the claim. He’s up to the 1300, but he should be able to get a nice, soft run just behind the leaders. So I don’t think the 1300 should pose any problems for him, as long as he gets the right run and the right surface.”
Rosehill is a Good 4, with the chance of light rain tomorrow.
While Freedman expected Yiska to be in the finish, he was concerned about the draw in 11 for Time To Boogie in his return from a wind operation.
The Sooboog gelding was a winner this time last year over 1000m at benchmark 78 level, but has not raced since January. He returned with two trials, the most recent a fast-finishing second to Theblade over 1045m. He is a $4.40 favourite with Rachel King aboard for the second last race, a 1100m benchmark 88, but Freedman was cautious about his chances.
“The draw is not ideal, and it’s only that I want to keep him on track for some other options further down the track that he will probably end up running,” he said.
“It is a bit of a tricky draw, especially from the 1100m start at Rosehill, but he’s a good genuine horse that seems to have come back in good order.
“Both of his trials have been good, so I think whatever he can do Saturday, he’ll be better for the run, just because he’s been off the scene for a while. But he’s had a good build up and two good, solid hit-outs. He’ll just need some luck from that gate.
“He had a wind op during the year, so he had to have some time off. So I probably want to see how he goes race day. Trials are one thing, but races are another.
“I just want to get him back racing and see how he comes up, then pick our way through after that.
“We planned to have him up and going over this Christmas-new year period.”
