Alabar Victoria Derby Final, Tabcorp Park, Saturday

It’s not all about the Big6 Hunter Cup this Saturday at Tabcorp Park. There are a couple of other highlights and the first of those is the Alabar Victoria Derby Final, a race which is worth a whopping $200,000 and has attracted a great line-up following the heats. Plenty of horses come into this race as prolific winners in previous harness racing results, making it a very competitive contest.

Daryl Douglas will be partnering Devilish Smile, who was second in his Australian harness racing heat last time out but is well-drawn and can lead. Despite the defeat last time, it was probably his best run for a long time as the clock will indicate. He should certainly be feared.

Former New Zealander The Gold Ace comes here having made his Australian debut in the heat for this. He should not be underestimated though as his time in that race showed he was up there with some of the best of these. He is still unexposed and has a chance.

Kerryn Manning runs his contender The Phantom, who will be attempting victory off the second line. Beaten into third in its heat last time out was no disgrace as that race was a very quick run first mile and on that effort must go close, hence his draw. What must be noted, though, is that the last time he contested a Derby contest he disappointed.

Sushi Sushi is one of the biggest prize money earners in the line-up and is another who should be considered, partnered by Greg Sugars who gets on well with this son of Art Major. Sushi Sushi was placed in this track’s big 2yo race last year and he has a chance against his own age again here. He is one of the main prize money earners in the field also and a big run is assured at a track he likes.

Abettorapunt deserves a mention also. This one races off the second line but has closely matched form with Sushi Sushi from last year when they met here as 2yos. That form would see him be a big threat. He is still relatively lightly raced and has improvement in him in abundance following his heat success.

There are a few with chances here and we will side with the second line contender in Sushi Sushi, who represents strong form coming into the race which is encouraging. Also, he has the beating of Abettorapunt on their run here in 2010 and, with a strong early pace expected from the pace-setters on the opening line, there could be a set-up situation for strong finishers.