Two impressive city wins have earned emerging galloper Cristal Clear the chance to press for a Big Dance start in Sunday’s $150,000 Dubbo City & Gilgandra Toyota Dubbo Gold Cup (1600m).
Co-trainer Rob Archibald said the four-year-old’s back-to-back Rosehill victories put the $3 million feature on November 4 firmly on the radar.
“He’s probably put it on the radar after a couple of good performances and his rating has gone up,” Archibald said.
“Potentially he could have a crack at a Big Dance. Hopefully we can run well and give ourselves a chance at it.”
Braith Nock maintains his association with Cristal Clear at Dubbo, and Archibald takes confidence from the gelding’s ability to win both from the front and when ridden just off the pace.
It’s a track the stable knows well — Sibaaq claimed the Wellington Cup (run at Dubbo in 2022) before going on to finish third in the inaugural Big Dance.
“He’s in really good order, he seems to be holding his form well and he has a good set-up,” Archibald said.
“It was good to see him a bit more versatile last time, he’s maturing all the time. He’s very lightly raced, he’s a talented horse and hopefully we haven’t seen the best of him yet.”
From barrier seven, Archibald expects Cristal Clear to be in the leading division but is happy to leave tactics to Nock.
“Braith can work it out, he probably knows the track better than us,” he said.
“He’s a horse that puts himself on the speed so he’ll be thereabouts, but it’s nice to know he can still do it if he doesn’t get the lead.”
Cristal Clear was rated a $3.20 TAB favourite on Saturday.
— Article by Ray Hickson, sourced from Racing NSW