Black Piranha is chasing history and a third straight Stradbroke Handicap win
Black Piranha joined an elite group of horses when he managed to win the Stradbroke Handicap for a second time last year and in 2011 he has the chance to create history with a third.
No horse has ever managed to do so and considering how much he thrives in Brisbane it’s a very real opportunity.
Con Karakatsanis has had his eye on the 2011 Stradbroke ever since he won it last year and Black Piranha has been targeted towards this since day one of his campaign.
Karakatsanis says he’s delighted with the horse’s progress and feels he’s in tremendous shape for Eagle Farm this weekend.
“I couldn’t be happier, he had his final hit out on the Gold Coast this morning,” Karakatsanis said.
Black Piranha isn’t a horse you can get a good read on during track work, in fact if you saw him on the Gold Coast you’d think he was anything but a Group 1 horse.
“It was like i expected, his work was average and I would have been worried if it was any better,” he said.
“He’s probably the worst track worker I’ve ever had.
“When he does work terrible I know he’s well.
“If you had clocker’s out there clocking him they’d be offering 1000 to 1.”
Asked how Black Piranha compares now to this time last year Karakatsanis say’s if anything he’s had a better lead up.
“The big plus for me is this year he hasn’t had a tough autumn campaign whereas the last two years he’s targeted the Doncaster,” he said.
“This year he’s had a good spell and he’s only third up into this race on Saturday, for me he’s the fresh horse on the scene.”
Black Piranha has run in Brisbane twice now losing out to Black Caviar in the BTC Cup and Beaded in the Doomben 10,000.
It’s worth noting though that those events were being used almost purely as stepping stones for him to peak this weekend.
They also only had small fields with modest race pace, the Stradbroke will be a whole different story.
“The Stradbroke field always seems to run along and he loves that type of tempo and the big open track at Eagle Farm,” Karakatsanis said.
Black Piranha is second favourite to take out his third Stradbroke Handicap with Beaded currently leading the market.
