Dailly’s ‘Fab Four’ in Australian Cup

Andrea Dailly has dominated the Group 1 TAB Australian Cup in recent years and will have numbers on her side as she chases a remarkable sixth victory since 2010 in next weekend’s $300,000 to-the-winner Cup final at The Meadows.

Eight ‘sudden death’ heats were conducted on Saturday night and Team Dailly will supply half the field for the final after incredibly training four winners; homebred quartet Lala Kiwi (29.61sec), Zippy Tesla (29.75sec), Daph’s Ascend (29.80sec) and Gypsy Bun (29.83sec).

Lala Kiwi, runner-up in the G1 Melbourne Cup in November, produced the fastest qualifying performance in heat three when upstaging series favourite Aston Rupee.

Dailly’s previous Australian Cup winners are Dyna Lachlan (2010), Spud Regis (2013), Dyna Double One (2015), Hecton Bale (2018) and Dyna Patty (2019).

VIDEO REPLAYS

HEAT 1: Immunity (1) came out running and led all-the-way in 29.74sec.

HEAT 2: Gypsy Bun (2) began sweetly and led throughout in 29.83sec.

HEAT 3: Lala Kiwi (2) took advantage of her inside draw to upset Aston Rupee (3) in a BON 29.61sec.

HEAT 4: Paddy Wants Pats (5) showed great acceleration to score in 29.87sec.

HEAT 5: Titan Blazer (1) took full advantage of his inside draw when winning in 29.93sec.

HEAT 6: Daph’s Ascend (5) shrugs off early interference before scoring in 29.80sec.

HEAT 7: Orlando (4) showed terrific acceleration into the first bend on his way to a 29.86sec.

HEAT 8: Reigning Silver Chief winner Zippy Tesla (5) crashed straight to the rail before winning in 29.75sec.

Other highlights from Saturday night’s heats included:

Champion trainer Jason Thompson will attempt to break his Australian Cup hoodoo with Immunity, a half-sister to Thompson’s 2019 Australian Cup runner-up Black Opium.
Kelly Bravo is hoping Paddy Wants Pat can emulate the G1-winning exploits of his mother, former superstar sprinter Striker Light, whose three G1 victories included the Temlee during the 2018 Australian Cup Carnival.
Twelve months after starting favourite in the G3 Vic Bred Maiden final on Australian Cup night, Orlando, trained by Lee Moore, produced the biggest heat upset, starting at $28 when taking out the penultimate heat.
Young trainer and former pro-wrestler Daniel Gibbons, 33, will take aim at his first G1 success with Titan Blazer, which ran third in the G1 Silver Chief at The Meadows in January.

HEAT WINNERS
(Fastest to slowest)

29.61sec Lala Kiwi
29.74sec Immunity
29.75sec Zippy Tesla
29.80sec Daph’s Ascend
29.83sec Gypsy Bun
29.86sec Orlando
29.87sec Paddy Wants Pats
29.92sec Titan Blazer

Despite being first reserve, Aston Rupee is TAB’s ‘Pre Box Draw’ favourite at $2.30, ahead of Lala Kiwi ($3.20) and Immunity ($3.50), with the draw to be conducted on Sunday morning from 11am. Riccarton Rick qualified as the second reserve.