Punters will have to wait until race morning before finding out who will ride late inclusion Lucky Liberty in the Group 1 $1m Darley Goodwood (1200m) at Morphettville on Saturday.
First emergency Lucky Liberty, above, has gained a start in The Goodwood at Morphettville. Photo by Adrienne Bicknell.
First emergency Lucky Liberty gained a place in the final field for The Goodwood when local trainer Lloyd Kennewell was forced to scratch his smart mare Viddora because of a foot abscess.
Joe Bowditch was booked to ride Viddora and is now in the running to take the mount on Lucky Liberty as is Michelle Payne who has been on the gelding at his last two starts but trainer Henry Dwyer said that he will wait until scratching time on Saturday morning before declaring a rider.
“We haven’t worked it out yet and we don’t need to declare a rider until scratching time on Saturday morning so we’ll just see if there are any other scratchings and decide then,” Dwyer told racing.com.
Lucky Liberty will move into barrier thirteen in the capacity twenty horse Goodwood field with the scratching of Viddora and Dwyer will instruct who whoever rides the five year old gelding to try and get a spot in the middle of the pack with some cover.
“He is drawn perfectly out a bit wider of midfield because he is going to get back regardless but if he can be back and maybe in the three-wide line with cover, he’ll get his chance to get to the outside and have a crack at them,” Dwyer said.
Lucky Liberty is rated as a $21 chance for The Goodwood at Ladbrokes.com.au and Dwyer admits that he is facing a tough task taking the likes of multiple Group 1 winner and $3.50 favourite Black Heart Bart but knows that he will put in a first class effort before heading to Brisbane for the Group 1 $1.5m Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm on June 10.
“He meets a lot of horses poorly at the weights but in fairness to him he should probably be rated higher than what he is,” Dwyer said.
“He is a very good horse and he is going particularly well so I’d expect him to run a really good race.
“He is based down at St Leonards so it’s a bit tricky getting commercial trucks to take them over like we usually do from Melbourne so I’ll take him over early on Friday morning and get over there by lunch time.”
Lucky Liberty was spelled after winning the Listed $120,000 Christmas Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on December 26 and resumed for a first up third to Rich Charm in the $250,000 VOBIS Gold Sprint (1200m) at Caulfield on April 22.
