Vashka is currently available at 2015 Show County Quality odds of $3 and is a clear favourite in betting, but trainer John O’Shea admits that the 1200 metres of the Group 3 event could be too short for the promising galloper.
Vashka is set to return to the races in the 2015 Show County Quality at Royal Randwick this weekend. Photo by: Steve Hart
Vashka stamped himself as a horse to follow when he scored five straight victories during the summer period in Sydney, but he failed to fire when he returned to racing in the Group 3 Hall Mark Stakes (1200m) at Royal Randwick on April 18.
The Exceed And Excel was sent to the spelling paddock following his Hall Mark Stakes failure, but he showed that he was ready for a return to racing when he recorded impressive barrier trial wins at Hawkesbury on July 27 and Royal Randwick on August 10.
Trainer John O’Shea has been happy with the progress that Vashka has made ahead of his 2015 Spring Racing Carnival campaign, but he believes that the five-year-old will perform better when he gets out over more distance and could struggle for pace in the Show County Quality this weekend.
“I don’t think he is a genuine six furlong horse,” O’Shea told AAP.
“He loves to get into the tempo of a seven (furlong) and a bit beyond where he can dictate and control the tempo of a race.
“He won’t have that luxury on Saturday so we’re going to have to be reliant on a different strategy for him to be effective.”
One sprinter that is sure to relish the fast 1200 metres of the Show County Quality is Howmuchdoyouloveme, who is set to back-up in the Group 3 event after he finished second behind Peeping in the Fairfield RSL Club Handicap (1200m) at Rosehill Gardens last Saturday.
Howmuchdoyouloveme has been plagued by injuries in recent years, but trainer Con Karakatsanis is happy with his condition and sees no reason not to give him a chance in the Show County Quality.
“He’s always a day-to-day proposition but I’m very happy with him, I wouldn’t have accepted with him if I wasn’t,” Karakatsanis said.
“His run last Saturday was very good.
“He’s an old boy and he’s got a lot of problems, but I’ll wrap him in cotton wool and he’ll be right.”
Howmuchdoyouloveme is currently available at 2015 Show County Quality odds of $15, while Vashka ($3) remains a clear favourite from Countryman ($4), Boss Lane ($4.80), Heart Testa ($8) and Aomen ($9).
