It’s Flying Stakes night at Cambridge tonight

[Wandering Eyes]

By Michael Guerin

Champion trainer Barry Purdon is adamant Meant To Be (pictured above) has the motor of a good open class trotter.

But tonight’s $40,000 Trotters Flying Stakes (7.01pm) at Cambridge could be a little too soon to see that motor pay dividends.

Meant To Be is a trotting rarity having looked like an open class horse even when winning as a two-year-old, an age when most young trotters are still trying to work out where their legs are supposed to go.

After a luckless back end to his three-year-old season he has just turned four and Barry, who trains him with Scott Phelan, knows there is nowhere to hide.

“He has to step up to open class at some stage and I have no doubt he is good enough,” Purdon says.

“Whether he can win this week, first time against race fit, hardened open class trotters I am not sure but he will get there for sure.”

Tonight Meant To Be is a victim of his own impressive record of nine wins from 16 starts as he comes into open class as a Rating 84 horse, so under tonight’s preferential draw conditions he starts from the outside of the front line.

He will probably enjoy having some room to move early in his first start off the unruly but it is incredible to think the youngster is rated 14 points higher than Hillbilly Blues, who has won just one less race but the Group 1 National Trot at Alexandra Park last week.

While Hillbilly Blues has raced only sparingly left-handed he has shown good gate speed and if he rolls to the front from barrier 3 tonight it is hard to see how Meant To Be, or any of his rivals, will catch him.

Belle Neige, who has been a consistent improver and was huge in the National Trot, and the wonderful old statesman of New Zealand trotting Oscar Bonavena are the obvious dangers.

Oscar Bonavena has won this race twice but has been beaten, usually with merit, in his last seven starts as he is finding it harder to give away the starts he often does with his usual sit-and-swoop racing style.

If they burn early tonight Oscar could win and look stunning doing it but the days of him being sub $3 in most open class races, even one of as mixed quality as tonight, must surely be coming to an end.

The early burn for positions could also determine tonight’s Pacers Flying Stakes (7.37pm) which only has four starters but may not be as straight forward as it looks. 

Akuta has barrier 3 and Merlin barrier 4 and the market suggests Akuta will use that advantage to lead, which would make it extremely hard for Merlin to beat him.

But the two pacers drawn inside the favourites, Little Spike (1) and Jolimont (2) are Arna Donnelly stablemates and the Cambridge trainer is rarely scared to give her horses their chance in front, especially with aggressive reinsmen Andre Poutama and David Butcher aboard.

If Akuta leads he should win but if the Donnelly stablemates fancy the lead-trail scenario that makes Akuta the horse who will have to come sit parked at some stage with Merlin almost certainly on his back, the latter then becoming the horse to beat.

“It is going to be very interesting,” says Purdon, who also trains Merlin.

“He can obviously win but so much is going to depend on what they all do early.”

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