Sepoy drifts as Bel Sprinter tightens after Oakleigh Plate draw
- by:Matt Stewart
- From:Herald Sun
- February 23, 2012 12:00am
Bel Sprinter has been well backed to win Saturday’s Oakleigh Plate.Source: Herald Sun
JOCKEY Ben Melham said he would rather swap barriers, but remained confident Bel Sprinter could topple champion Sepoy in Saturday’s Oakleigh Plate.
Bel Sprinter drew gate 11 and Sepoy gate 5 in the 18-horse field.
“You’d probably rather he drew out a bit, because he’s a terrific get-back, run-on type horse, but it could be worse,” Melham said.
Sepoy’s trainer, Peter Snowden, obviously felt Sepoy’s middle draw was not perfect, but he was upbeat.
“There’s not much you can do about it – it’s all systems go,” Snowden said.
TAB Sportsbet punters reckon history is against Sepoy carrying a modern-day record weight to victory, and yesterday heavily backed Bel Sprinter.
Sepoy opened at $2 but quickly drifted to $2.30. Bel Sprinter opened at $4.40 but was backed into $3.50 in the first 10 minutes of betting.
“Bel Sprinter’s got plenty of class and he’s so well weighted,” he said. “You’d be silly so say you’re going to beat Sepoy, but I’m sure that with the right luck we’ll give him a hell of a run for his money.”
Melham said he would not be preoccupied with making full use of his4kg weight pull on Sepoy, who has topweight of 58kg.
“My intention is to come out really easy and just get him to settle,” Melham said.
