Sarge In Charge
The rain which has ruined the hopes of so many in Sydney over the last few months may have exactly the opposite effect for Queensland based trainer Liam Birchley.
In fact far from running away from the heavy tracks Berchley has been attracted to them, taking the punt with two of the best in his stable.
Sarge In Charge and Whateverwhenever have both been nominated for this Saturday at Rosehill and the more rain the better for two horses which revel in the mud.
Evergreen jockey Robert Thompson has been booked to ride both horses.
“I only put them in because the weather is the way it is, so they look likely to run at this point,” Birchley said.
“Sarge In Charge loves the wet and so does the other one (Whateverwhenever).”
Sarge In Charge is one of 20 currently nominated for the Benchmark 85 over 1100m while Whateverwhenever will run in the Benchmark 80 for three-year-olds over 1200m.
The last time Sarge In Charge made the trip south he ran second to Winter King on a heavy Randwick surface, that was almost 12 months ago.
He’s desperate for similar conditions after languishing in 11th at his last start over 1200m in a class six at Doomben.
“He was accepted for in the Lightning Handicap (in Brisbane last Saturday) but we didn’t get the rain that we thought we would,” Birchley said.
“The way it looks like being there (Sydney) looks to be his ideal conditions.”
As for Whateverwhenever, she’s had just seven starts for three wins so far.
She certainly won’t be a starter this Wednesday at Doomben but she does have another option as she’s nominated at the Sunshine Coast this Sunday.
“Whateverwhenever is just an exceptionally good wet tracker so I just thought I would throw a nomination in (for the Rosehill race) and see how the track came up,” Birchley said.
“I’m not overly familiar with the form down there but she won her last start up here and just bearing in mind how she goes in the conditions I thought it was a viable option.”
She’s coming off a last start victory after winning a Class Three event at Doomben.
Back in December she dominated a Class One race in Ipswich by more than four lengths, to date her only start on a heavy track.
Veteran jockey Robert Thompson will ride both horses should they front up at Rosehill.
New South Wales has been battered by constant rain from autumn right through winter with numerous race meetings postponed or cancelled.
Randwick has rated as heavy for both meetings over the long weekend while Canterbury will have a heavy surface for its mid-week meeting tomorrow as well.
