Ben Gleeson. (Image: @TeAkauRacing)
Te Akau Racing has enjoyed a strong debut season in Melbourne from relatively small numbers and the team is seeking yet another metropolitan win at The Valley this Saturday with the mare Rhetorical.
Trainer Mark Walker saddled his seventh Melbourne winner for the season in the form of Sans Doute at Flemington on Wednesday and the filly Rhetorical is expected to be hard to beat when she runs in the Benchmark 64 (1000 metres).
Imperatriz has supplied four of those wins with Skew Wiff, Rubicon Crossing and Sans Doute providing the rest.
Rhetorical is a $4.20 favourite for Saturday’s race and Racing.com’s form analyst Ben Asgari has selected her to win.
Gleeson said the three-year-old Snitzel filly probably should have won her Australian debut and showed a lot of fortitude to finish second.
WATCH: Rhetorical's last-start second at The Valley
“She was a bit tardy away and Mick (Dee) went for the rails run and she’s only a little filly, but she couldn’t quite barge her way out,” Gleeson said.
He said Rhetorical showed a lot of determination as she was being bumped from both sides.
Gleeson pointed out that she was a stakes-winning two-year-old filly in New Zealand.
“She has a low rating and we’ve brought her over with the idea of her stepping through her grades. She finds the right race on Saturday in a Benchmark 64 with a nice draw and Damian Lane to ride.”
Gleeson said they only had 14 horses in work at Cranbourne and pointed out that the stable wasn’t restricted to Te Akau Racing horses.
“Our plan was to pick up a few extra, but it’s been hard to change the perception that we’re not solely Te Akau. We’ve had four owners from different stables join us for a fresh start.”