HAVING won three of his last five starts, King Derota heads into tomorrow’s $25,000 Allandale Park Stud Cup Benchmark 65 Handicap over 1400 metres arguably the form horse in a strong field for Racing Orange’s first feature race of the season.
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But trainer Peter Stanley has a far more reserved rap on his five-year-old gelding.
“He’s an honest little galloper,” the former Towac Park-based trainer said. “Everyone hopes to get a good little horse, and for what I’ve asked of him he’s been just that. We bought him for $400 and what has he won us? Something like $30,000.”
Dubbed versatile by Stanley, King Derota is one of 13 horses set to jump at 5.10pm tomorrow in the first big race for the Racing Orange season, Brian Buckley’s Cool Days also a last start winner, while the Lee Van Den Bos-trained Belfrey Bat is another to win in its last run.
Champion hoop Greg Ryan has the ride on Belfrey Bat tomorrow.
Acceptances on the eight-race program were finalised yesterday morning, and with almost all of the races attracting full fields, Stanley was excited to be returning to his old stomping ground.
“It’ll be good to come back with a couple of runners. Orange was good to me while I was there,” the now Bathurst-based Stanley said.
King Derota is Stanley’s obvious big hope in the Allandale Park Stud Cup.
“For the benchmark, it is (a good race),” he added.
“It’s a tidy little race and it’ll be a competitive sort of race.”
A gelding with three wins, two seconds and two thirds from nine starts, Stanley was hopeful King Derota would kick on and become a champion gelding.
“Well, I’d like to think so,” he said, King Derota winning in Mudgee then Bathurst in his last two runs.
“He ran a good race in Mudgee and here in Bathurst he did it hard.
“He ran three, four deep there before pulling away by a length and then defied the challenge. He’s a tough little bugger.”
The first race tomorrow jumps at 1.28pm at Towac Park.