Lucky Hussler and Hooked are on top of the 2014 Emirates Stakes tips of form expert Daniel O’Sullivan and he is confident that the duo will both be suited by the early speed set to be present in the Group 1 event at Flemington tomorrow.

Lucky Hussler is on top of the 2014 Emirates Stakes selections of Smartform’s Daniel O’Sullivan. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Lucky Hussler joined the stable of Darren Weir at the end of his 2014 Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival campaign and he performed well in his first three starts for his new trainer without winning before stamping himself as a genuine Emirates Stakes contender with a dominant three and a half lengths victory in the Group 3 Moonga Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on October 18.

O’Sullivan told RSN that he believes there are plenty of winning chances in the Emirates Stakes, but he feels that Lucky Hussler represents good value at his current Emirates Stakes odds of $7 on the back of his career best performance in the Moonga Stakes.

“Lucky Hussler was super impressive last start with the blinkers on and he ran to a big new peak in that race,” O’Sullivan said.

“There was on a strong pace on up front and he ran a very, very fast overall time and he certainly comes into this race with the best last start figure.

“There is still a question on whether he can repeat that, but all spring we have seen Darren Weir-trained horses continue to go to new peaks and just maintain that form.

“There is no better example of that than Trust In A Gust and there is no reason to doubt Lucky Hussler here.”

Another horse in the 2014 Emirates Stakes field that O’Sullivan believes represents good value at their current quote is John Thompson-trained Hooked.

Hooked recorded his first race win in over a year when he took out the Group 3 Cameron Handicap (1400m) at Newcastle on September 17 and finished a luckless third in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) before returning to winning form in the Group 2 Crystal Mile (1600m) at Moonee Valley on October 25.

O’Sullivan said that Hooked was most impressive in the Crystal Mile and he believes that the Casino Prince entire is set to get an ideal run into the race just behind the leaders in the early stages of the Emirates Stakes.

“I think that Hooked is the other interesting runner here,” O’Sullivan said.

“He was super impressive at Moonee Valley sitting up there at a hot pace to run really fast overall time and for me that was a new overall peak for Hooked.

“We know that he has this established form over the 2000 and 2400 metres and coming off that last run he is going to be one of the runners that is ideally positioned three to five lengths off The Cleaner as he starts to ramp up the tempo.

“He could be the one that steps out first and a lot of these others could be getting too far back, so he is definitely right in the mix.”

Lucky Hussler and Hooked are both currently available at 2014 Emirates Stakes odds of $7 with Ladbrokes Australia.