By Neil Evans
A provincial-based mare with her best in front of her is set to return with a bang for a new stable at Thursday’s feature Muswellbrook meeting.
Invasive Dreams is a four-year-old daughter of group 1 winner Invader, having her first run for the Kristen Buchanan stable at Wyong after transferring from Scone.
Wyong trainer Kristen Buchanan.Credit: Getty
She hasn’t run since capping a consistent campaign during the past winter with a close placing in tougher company at this track when in the Lyle Chandler yard at Scone.
Before that, Invasive Dreams had shown plenty of potential, placed in both a much stronger CL3 Highway at Rosehill and a conditional BM 68 Handicap at Newcastle.
Now, after a 22-week spell and more importantly the change of scenery, Invasive Dreams is primed to claim a moderate BM 58 Handicap over 1000m to close the Muswellbrook card.
Certainly, Buchanan has made a couple of significant statements in the lead-up to the mare’s return, electing not to officially trial her, and booking 3kg-claiming apprentice Lauren Van Tijn to offset the big weight.
In what was a fairly wide early betting affair, Invasive Dreams was locked in a battle for clear favouritism with improving Scone mares Speck and De Luca, as well as older home track mare Provencal.
The Buchanan stable is eyeing book-ending the meeting and launching into the New Year after a lean December where it landed just two winners.
Tough seven-year-old Stylebender is out to make it two wins from his last three starts in the opening BM 58 Hcp over 1750m.
A somewhat luckless and occasionally underrated son of NZ staying sire Tavistock, Stylebender has so much more to offer than his modest two wins from 36 starts, and having taken nearly five years to break his maiden status since debuting in early 2020.
Ahead of only his second run at the course, Stylebender opened on the second line of betting around $3.20, just behind early fancy Magic Pharoah at $3.00.
Emotional win for Portelli
Walkin’talkin’ fired second-up off a long break to score an emotional win for Warwick Farm trainer Gary Portelli at Canterbury yesterday. The six-year-old, which had more than 12 months off the scene, led all the way under apprentice Molly Bourke. The victory came a day after Portelli’s mother, Morveen Portelli, died at age 78. “She was a mad racing fanatic and a trainer herself,” Portelli said. “She was probably the third woman to have a trainer’s licence in NSW. She loved the game and the last words she said to me … was ‘what time is your race?’ … This is a very special win today.”
Craig Kerry
