Ladies in red after winning the Rising Sun
DON’T wait for Inter Dominion Grand Final night, the best race of the carnival could be tomorrow night (Saturday) at Albion Park.
That’s the word from the voice of Queensland harness racing, Chris Barsby, as he prepares to call at his fifth Inter Dominion series and his third as the “chief” caller.
The race is the $350,000 Rising Sun, which has only run for the first time in 2021 and has quickly become one of the best and most important races in Australasia.
Three champions have won it in just five years with mares Amazing Dream (2021) and Ladies In Red (2022) being followed by the greatest of them all, Leap To Fame, in 2023.
Superstars like Don Hugo, Copy That and The Janitor have been beaten in it.
“What a race it’s become,” Barsby said. “This shapes as the best (Rising Sun) yet. The depth of talent on display is amazing. It’s the race of the carnival for mine, an unbelievable race.”
Beyond the prize money, Barsby loves the “twist” where the winner getting a golden ticket into the $1 million Inter Dominion final on July 18.
“That’s so good. It’s a great idea. Imagine the excitement of say a Captains Mistress wins it. Think about the X-Factor she would then bring as a fresh runner into the Inter Dominion final.” he said.
The other “quirk” to the Rising Sun, a race restricted to just three and four-year-old pacers, is the preferential barrier draw.
And that’s a big reason Captains Mistress is such a raging hot favourite from barrier three.
Being a four-year-old mare, she draws outside the three-year-olds, but inside the big strong, four-year-old boys like Kiwi star Marketplace (gate six), sparkling Redcliffe Cup winner Final Deadline (gate four) and last year’s TAB Eureka runner-up Fox Dan (gate 12).
It has certainly proven pivotal in the first two years of the race with Amazing Dream and Ladies In Red making the most of preferential draws to win.
Ladies In Red even beat home Leap To Fame when he was three before he returned a year later for the most dominant Rising Sun win we have seen yet.
Leap To Fame became the first three-year-old to run a place in the Rising Sun when third in 2022, but his stablemate Fate Awaits was the first three-year-old to win it. Again the preferential draw proved crucial when he trailed the leader and used the sprint lane.
Such is the depth of this year’s race and the importance of the draws, Fate Awaits is a $67 when he returns as a four-year-old tomorrow night.
PHOTO: Dan Costello
