Trainer Paul Carlson is looking forward to Saturday night’s $100,000 LAFM Beautide (2200m) at Launceston’s Ladbrokes Racing Centre, Mowbray.
Carlson prepares Always Bettor, one of two three-year-olds, taking on the four-year-olds in the Listed feature.
“We’ve had horses that have been competitive in their Sires races, but I’ve never had a horse like this.
“I’ve never got to the bottom of this horse, so I don’t really know how good he is,” said Carlson.
Always Bettor has won four of his nine starts, headlined by the $20,000 Sinbad Bay in February.
He was the runner-up last start when run down in the final few strides by Likeyouforareason.
“Jordy (Chibnall) never knocked him around either, and they still broke 56 seconds for the last half. A lot of horses can’t do that.
“He’s come on well from that run, and I couldn’t be happier with him,” the trainer said.
The start before that, Always Bettor was retired from the race after being severely checked near the 600m and subsequently sustained a laceration.
“It set me back with him a bit because he was out for three or four days, and I had to ease up on him for a week,” the trainer said.
From barrier two, Carlson expects that driver Jordan Chibnall will drive the pacer for his sharp finishing speed.
“I think he’s better if there’s speed on. If they run along and he gets onto the back of someone, he has a really good turn of foot.
“He can sprint hard for 200 or 300 metres, so if he gets the right run into it, I think he’ll be right in the race,” Carlson said.
Carlson has been happy with the pacer this week, and he is also looking forward to the next few days.
“I couldn’t be happier with him. I’ve got a job to hold him around my place, he just wants to go too quickly.
“We’ve never had anything like this before. We’ve never really had a horse good enough to go in one. It’s going to be something different for us, and we are off to the Calcutta on Friday night, and we are going to enjoy the experience,” the trainer added.
