Tarzino is currently available at 2015 Victoria Derby odds of $2.40 and has opened as a dominant favourite for the Group 1 event that will be held at Flemington on Saturday.
Tarzino is set to start the 2015 Victoria Derby as a dominant favourite. Photo by: Ultimate Racing Photos
Tarzino showed his quality when he recorded back-to-back wins in the Slickpix Maiden Plate (1400m) at Ballarat on August 27 and The Cove Hotel Handicap (1600m) at Caulfield on September 19 before she produced strong performances in both the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) on October 10 and the Group 2 Moonee Valley Vase (2400m) on October 24.
The Victoria Derby odds of Tarzino did not change when he was allocated barrier 10 at the Victoria Derby Day barrier draw this afternoon and trainer Mick Price believes that the wide draw may be an advantage for the promising stayer.
“Barrier ten is good because Shards and Ayers Rock have drawn outside us and surely they roll to the first corner and it gives us an opportunity to go with them to a certain degree,” Price said.
“I think that the horse can muster up, we don’t have to ride him cold all the time.
“The only reason that we rode him cold at Moonee Valley was because he drew barrier ten and in seven days’ time we had a 2500 metre race at Flemington where we had to relax.
“Craig wanted to ride him cold and the owners all wanted to ride him cold, so whilst I didn’t think it was the best chance on the day, it was probably the right thing to do with a view to this Saturday.
“He had a good long, hard hit-out and you think that he would go past the first corner, find his spot, relax, canter around, get out at the right time and see what happens.”
The only other horse that is available at single figure 2015 Victoria Derby odds is Western Australian galloper Kia Ora Koutou, who was allocated the inside gate at the barrier draw.
Kia Ora Koutou has recorded four wins from as many race starts in Western Australia and there have been a number of comparisons made to 2004 Victoria Derby winner Plastered, who took out the Group 1 event after starting his racing career with five wins from six starts in Western Australia.
The early market mover in the 2015 Victoria Derby betting market with Ladbrokes has been Shards, who was quickly backed from $19 into $15 following the barrier draw.
Shards paid a late entry fee to get Shards into the Victoria Derby field and he showed that he was capable of running out a trip when he finished second behind Jameka in the Group 2 Moonee Valley Vase (2040m) on October 24.
There has been a sprinkling of support for Get The Picture ($12 into $11), while Extra Choice ($10 out to $11) and Pay Up Bro ($11 out to $12) have both been on the drift.
