Balazo, Long Running Train good to go

TRAINER Anthony Nunes is hoping to steal the show at Caymanas Park on Saturday. He has a well-forward two-year-old, BALAZO, in the $1m Front Runner Dash at 1,000 metres round, in addition to St Leger winner, BIG DADDY KOOL, in the Nigel B Nunes Memorial, named in honour of his father.

Whereas BALAZO, a $1.2m yearling sale buy, appears to have the class to beat his six rivals at the 1,000 metres round, BIGDADDYKOOL is up in class against United States-bred LONG RUNNING TRAIN, one of the best horses in the country with a penchant for two-turn races.

BALAZO is interestingly bred, sired by Strikewhileitshot out of the local mare, Voodoo Chant. Strikewhileitshot preferred distances in excess of seven-and-a-half furlongs during his racing career in the United States, whereas Voodoo Chant was a speedster trained by Philip Feanny, proving competitive up to overnight allowance.

The combination appears to have culminated in every owner's dream, a horse with speed that stays as well. In his only exercise gallop past five furlongs, BALAZO posted 1:01.0 on the round course Sunday morning, a bullet work, comparable to the likes of LONG RUNNING TRAIN and SUPERLUMINAL, who galloped five and a half in 1:06.3, their last five in 1:00.3.

After watching BALAZO Sunday morning, Nunes must have ticked the chestnut colt in his win column. However, LONG RUNNING TRAIN's workout must have touched a nerve as he considered the prospect of BIGDADDYKOOL against the impressive foreigner, who went down by two lengths to SEEKING MY DREAM and PERFECT NEIGHBOUR in the Prime Minister's Stakes on August 6.

LONG RUNNING TRAIN, a four-year-old, has been competitive in grade one since finishing second to PERFECT NEIGHBOUR in last December's Harry Jackson Memorial. BIGDADDYKOOL was a lumbering two-year-old then, closing fast to finish third behind FUTURE KING and NUCLEAR AFFAIR in the Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes that afternoon.

Though he won the 10-furlong St Leger in a decent 2:06.3, a fifth quicker than the 2:06.4 posted by SEEKING MY DREAM in the Prime Minister's Stakes, differing track conditions and pace must be factored in.

The track is always faster on major race-days, hence the St Leger splits and final time must be suspect and should be adjusted to be more in line with the 2:07.2 BIGDADDYKOOL clocked in the Lotto Classic Governor's Cup.

Unless he has improved that much in a month and a half, BIGDADDYKOOL won't be catching Ian Parsard's LONG RUNNING TRAIN on Saturday.