BLACK PIRANHA, MR BARITONE IN STRADBROKE SHOOTOUT

By Graham Potter | Friday, June 5, 2009

In the moment after Apache Cat rallied late to see off the determined challenge of Black Piranha in the Doomben 10 000 by a narrow margin, trainer Con Karakatsanis was beside himself with frustration. It was the third successive time, all in high profile Group 1 features, that Black Piranha had been forced to settle for second placing. Karakatsanis’s body language immediately after the race told the story. You didn’t have to ask a question to know he was devastated.

Now, two weeks later there is the question of tending to unfinished business.

On Saturday, Karakatsanis brings Black Piranha to Eagle Farm in a quest to annex the first Group 1 win for both horse and trainer. It is a result the duo richly deserve, but, like so many before them have found out, it is an honour only earned when it has been achieved. It can evaporate before your eyes just when you think it is in touching distance.

All things being equal, Black Piranha will have every chance of securing that elusive win, and if it arrives it will be all the more sweeter for the wait the connections have had to endure.

The worry for Black Piranha, strangely enough, is the draw most connections would be keen to have. The number four barrier position is an advantage if the horse has the early speed to secure a comfortable position.

Black Piranha can do that, but he also has a preferred racing pattern of charging home with a solid, sustained run from well off the speed. To drop out from the inside draw means you will run for luck, which is hardly a favoured option in a race that is likely to be a pressurised affair from the jump. To go forward could mean he might race too handy. It’s a fine line and an important judgement call awaits jockey Tye Angland.

The bottom line is, given the breaks, both horse and rider have the ability to take the race by the scruff of the neck and make it their own.

Can the unthinkable happen? Can Black Piranha finish second yet again?

Of course he can ... particularly as the race could well come down to a two horse battle between the Karakatsanis trained runner and the defending Stradbroke Champion, Mr Baritone.

Mike Moroney knows how to prepare a Group 1 winner in Queensland and he will have Mr Baritone prepared to the minute. The seven-year-old backs up after finishing a close-up third to the much hyped Ortensia in the QTC Cup last week.

Mr Baritone chased from barrier fifteen on that occasion. Ortensia was drawn well. This time Mr Baritone is drawn well and Ortensia is drawn wide. Also, significantly, Mr Baritone is now 1kg better off with the filly and he has no problem with a slow or a heavy track. The soft going is not Ortensia’s favourite option. That is why Mr Baritone should have the edge on Ortensia this time around. That is why he rates as the standout danger to Black Piranha.

Moroney has taken Mr Baritone on a tried and tested route in his lead-up to the Stradbroke.

Last year, two runs before the Stradbroke, Mr Baritone finished fourth in the BTC Sprint, 4.50 lengths behind Helideck. This year he finished 3,50 lengths back in the same race, this time behind Court Command.

Mr Baritone was then given a two week break, as he has again been allowed this year, before racing one week out from Stradbroke. Last year that race came in the form of the Edward Williams Handicap (Listed). He finished third, 1.30 lengths behind Litter. This year his last lead-up race was the more advanced Group 2 QTC Cup. He finished third, 0.30 lengths behind Ortensia.

Whether Mr Baritone can hold off Black Piranha to complete the Stradbroke double is up for debate. The point that cannot be argued is that he will be ready for the challenge. Having big race jockey Glen Boss on his back is an added plus.

So Black Piranha and Mr Baritone are arguably the two standout runners.

Of course it would be foolhardy to just summarily dismiss the chances of the other eighteen runners. A bump here, a closed gap there and suddenly anyone who has a ticket has a chance. But at the end of the day, you can’t back them all, so a decision has to be made.

For me, the race will fall to either Black Piranha or Mr Baritone.

To help you make your own selection, go to the story ‘Stradbroke Preview’ where form commentary is supplied for all twenty runners.