Dreamy Dragon a good prospect

Press, 18 July 1980, Page 7

Dreamy Dragon a good prospect

By W. R. CARSTON Dreamy Dragon, one of Canterbury’s most - talented three-year-olds, seems to have bright hopes of keeping a good record moving when he contests the New Brighton Handicap at Addington Raceway tomorrow.

The Ashburton-trained Lumber Dream gelding will be going for his sixth win of the season in the first leg of the New Brighton Trotting Club’s T.A.B. double.

The running went against Dreamy Dragon at Blenheim last time out but he had a winning sequence of four just before that including the Queen’s Birthday Stakes at Ashburton and the Nelson Trotting Club’s Calte:; Gold Cup and Baaz Handicaps.

In both of the latter events on the testing Rich’ mond course Dreamy Dragon was opposed by older rivals. He will face similar opposition in tomorrow’s 11-horse

field but is generally expected to prove more than a match for most challengers. If recent form, and all of that is almost a month old, is the best guide, Dreamy Dragon’s strongest rivals are likely to be Prince Nugent, Lord Brigade, and Ladyship Khan.

Prince Nugent has earned top marks for trying lately. His last three starts have yielded two seconds and a third. The last of those placings was behind Wickliffe at Rangiora on June 9. Earlier on the same day Ladyship Khan had chased Jack’s Tram home in the Rangiora Winter Cup to give her two minor placings from her last three starts. Lord Brigade is one of the form runners Cecil Devine will be driving. This Lordship four-year-old’s last four starts have yielded a win and three minor placings.

Patrons are likely fo have a much wider range of fancies in the second leg, the C. C. Devine Handicap, but if luck of the running goes the way of Now’s Your Chance he may carry the day. ; Last time out the Wash-dyke-trained four-year-old failed to make any impression on a heavy track at Blenheim but he performed well for a win and a third in two starts at the Nelson meeting a week earlier. Form on the Nelson-Blen-heim circuit will also have proved to be valuable if Cap Duhaine, Hanover Maize, Bernsay, and Royal Scotch are involved in the finish but the one they may all have to beat, if he comes up with one of his peak runs, is Scholar. He has not raced since February but shaped up well enough at trials last week to suggest that he is close to his best, which is very good.