Steely Dan ‘harder’ this time

Press, 1 September 1989, Page 42

Steely Dan ‘harder’ this time

Auckland correspondent The Matamata trainer Tony Gillies is confident his top-class sprinter, Steely Dan, can bounce back to top form in the sAustlso,ooo Memsie Stakes (1400 m at Caulfield tomorrow. After a few hitches, Steely Dan began his latest Australian campaign in the J. J. Liston Stakes (1400 m at Sandown last Saturday and he wound up a creditable sixth behind a fellow Kiwi, Kairau Lad. That performance was better than it looked on paper, according to Gillies. “He definitely needed it — he hadn’t started for four weeks — and he raced like that,” said Gillies. “He hit the front and was going to win, but died on his run the last bit. Even so, he was only about two lengths from Kairau Lad. “He pulled up well afterwards and he’s got to be a lot harder to beat on Saturday (tomorrow).” Although the track at Sandown was rain-af-fected, Gillies feels Steely Dan, a top winter galloper, was not really suited by the going. “He was dipping a bit,” said Gillies. “I think the ground was a bit shifty underneath and he wasn’t that happy in it.” Last year Steely Dan won the Liston Stakes, then ran second to Rancho Ruler in the Memsie Stakes.