Page Wants More Rain Ahead Of Doncaster Mile

The Royal Randwick track is currently rated as a soft seven and Helen Page is hoping that the surface continues to soften to increase the winning chances of Rudy in the 2015 Doncaster Mile on Saturday.

Rudy will return to Group 1 level for the 2015 Doncaster Mile at Royal Randwick on Saturday. Photo by: Daniel Costello

Rudy will return to Group 1 level for the 2015 Doncaster Mile at Royal Randwick on Saturday. Photo by: Daniel Costello

Rudy has recorded a number of impressive performances during her racing career to date, but has produced her best performances on rain affected surfaces and has recorded six wins from ten starts on tracks rated in the soft or heavy range.

Page admits that Rudy will face a tough assignment when he takes on some of the best milers in Australia in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m), but she told RSN that she feels a wet surface will rule a number of Rudy’s rivals out of contention.

“We are doing a bit of a rain dance up here and hoping that we will get it down there,” Page said.

“I know they had a storm and shows yesterday, so we are praying for rain.

“He is good on top of the ground as well, but usually it rains at Easter and it could eliminate some of our opposition.

“To be realistic it is pretty hard thinking that we are going to be placed in a Doncaster and I don’t expect him to win or anything, but you have to run in these races and it is just like when I ran third in a Melbourne Cup.”

Rudy earnt a ballot-exempt place in the 2015 Doncaster Mile field when he won the Group 2 Villiers Stakes (1600m) at Royal Randwick on December 13 last year and he showed that was no fluke when he started his autumn campaign with a second place finish behind It’s Somewhat in the Group 3 Liverpool City Cup (1300m) at Warwick Farm on February 28.

The Red Dazzler gelding did not have a great deal of luck in both the Group 2 Ajax Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 14 and the Group 3 Doncaster Prelude (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 28, but Page is hoping that the four-year-old will produce an improved performance when he drops down to 50 kilograms for the Doncaster Mile.

“He has come out of it really well,” Page said

“The Doncaster is his grand final and that is the reason he has been in Sydney.

“That is the race that I set him for because he won the qualifying race, my owners own the mare and they only have a couple of broodmares, so it is an achievement to breed a horse that has gone this far.

“It is quiet exciting.

“He is a little lad from Chinchilla taking on the Godolphin’s of the world.

“His races coming into he has had to have and he has had bad barriers and weight, but this is the race where he drops in weight, there will be a lot more speed in this race and with the speed on he runs on really well.”

Rudy is currently available at 2015 Doncaster Mile odds of $26 with Ladbrokes, while Hallowed Crown ($6) remains a narrow favourite from second emergency Kermadec ($7) and Gai Waterhouse-trained Pornichet ($8).

About The Author

Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.