Our Luciano to battle the Stewart army in Derby

The Keith Cotchin-prepared Our Luciano (Sweet Lou) will be needing luck on his side if he is to overcome a tricky harness racing barrier and the might of the Emma Stewart stable to claim Saturday night’s Group 1 Woodlands Stud Victoria Derby Final.

The three-year-old finished fifth in the second heat to qualify for Saturday night’s $200,000 final.

“He pulled up well and he seems very good,” Cotchin said. “He has taken a little while to hit his straps this time in and his last four runs have been really good.”

The gelding by Sweet Lou has drawn 13 with Tayla French set to pilot the pacer.

“ I thought he could have been a genuine first five chance, but 13 sort of makes it a bit hard,” he said.

“He is probably going to have to settle third last maybe and there are a few nice horses in front of you and you might get a cart into the race.

“There is a lot of speed on the front line, so the chances of slotting in are going to be hard, so they are probably going to have to go back in the field.

“It is a tricky race, it will be an honest run race, I think.”

The 2760m journey is set to be a big advantage to the son of Gotahavasheffield.

“He has shown in his last few runs that he got home well in the 2700m, and he got home well on Saturday night, even though he had to go wide, he was virtually one of the only runners that made ground,” he said.

“I think it will be more of a genuine contest the final, then what the heat was.”

The week leading up to Saturday night’s Group 1 event is set to be an easy one according to the Elmore trainer.

“We don’t have to do much, he had a bit of a jog around today (Oct 9) just to open his wind pipes up a bit, he is not going to get any fitter in a week,” he said.

“It is just to keep him fresh and easy for Saturday night, he seems good.”

The 64-year-old has tasted Derby success in the past taking out the 2008 edition with Tanabi Bromac.

“It’s very hard to do and for this horse he will get his chance one day to be a Group 1 horse, he has got the right attitude to go far.”

The two Emma Stewart runners who won both heats in Best Deal and Miki To Success have drawn two and three respectively.

The Group 1 Woodlands Stud Victoria Derby Final is set to go at 8.33pm.

The Victoria Derby final is one of six Group 1 features on Sportsbet Victoria Cup night which includes the Bill Collins Trotters Sprint and The Victoria Oaks.

The October 12 meeting will be shown on Sky Racing, with a special free-to-air broadcast on Racing.com’s channels 68 and 78.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Lachlan Mitchell, for Harness Racing Victoria