Love of trotting to reap rewards

Emerging harness racing trainer Chris Svanosio is lucky his number one love is trotters over pacers.

While the pacing side of Saturday night’s huge 12-race Vicbred finals’ night will again be dominated by Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin, six trotting finals will be spread more evenly.

And the Romsey-based Svanosio is as well placed as any trainer to make his mark and one of the biggest nights of his career.

“I picked the right gait to love the most, didn’t I?” Svanosio said.

“You just have to marvel at the dominance of Emma and Clayton in those pacing races.”

Stewart and Tonkin have won five of the six pacing finals in recent years and are favoured to do the same on Saturday night.

Svanosio has six runners across four finals and is the favourite to win two of them.

His strongest hand comes in race three, the $100,000 Group 1 4YO Entires and Geldings final, with $1.60 favourite Arcee Phoenix (Trixton) and $5 second elect Aroha Koe (Love You).

Svanosio also has $2.60 favourite Lady Adellia (Creatine) in the $100,000 Group 1 4YO Mares’ final, along with $10 shot Queen Of Quebec.

His other runners are a $10 chance Kyvalley Maven (Tactical Landing) in the 2YO Colts and Geldings final and Aldebaran Miley ($15) in the 3YO Fillies’ final.

“I don’t think you can ever say you’re confident going into strong Group 1 races like these, but it’s really the main night of the year for the sort of horses I train, and I’m happy with them all,” Svanosio said.

“Arcee Phoenix would be my best chance, but I think there’s as much between him and Aroha Koe the way the barriers have fallen.”

“Arcee Phoenix was terrific in his heat, but barrier 12 is tough.
Aroha Koe will run a great race from his draw (gate three).”

But Svanosio had a warning for those contemplating taking the $2.60 Lady Adelia in her final.

“I don’t think it will be easy for her from the back row (gate 10),” he said. “I’m hopeful more than confident. Yes, she was good winning her heat, but I’ll need to produce a good drive and get her into the right spot to overcome that draw.”

Svanosio rates Kyvalley Maven his “smokey” of the night.

“I’m sure he’s got the talent to win, but he’s a work in progress,” he said. “If I can get him away safely and he does everything right, he’s good enough,” he said.

Kyvalley Maven is a $10 shot from barrier five in race 10.

“Don’t rule out my two-year-old filly Aldebaran Miley (race 11), either,” Svanosio warned. “It’s a really good draw for her (gate two), but it’s just such a strong race with Glamour Stride in one and Rockinwithattitude in three.”

It’s also great to see champion Kiwi trainer Mark Purdon and his son, Nathan, back in Victoria and key players in two of the Vicbred finals.

Their best hope is We Can Have It All, the $1.75 favourite in the $100,000 Group 1 2YO Trotting Fillies’ final.

They also have The Real Sherlock, a $9 third favourite behind Stewart and Tonkin stablemates Petracca ($1.25) and Techys Watching ($6) in the $150,000 Group 3YO Pacing Colts and Geldings final.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Adam Hamilton, for Harness Racing Australia