This was published 4 years ago
Salina dreaming of victory to make up for unlucky effort
By Neil Evans
One of the more promising fillies in provincial NSW can hit back at Thursday's feature Gosford meeting after a luckless and narrow defeat here last start.
Salina Dreaming, already a two-time winner and having not missed a place in four starts, lines up in a class 2 handicap (1000m) to close the card. She aims to keep her unbeaten record over 1000m intact.
There are plenty of options for punters to pick from at Gosford.Credit: Jenny Evans
A powerful three-year-old daughter of US sire Dream Ahead in the stable of popular Gosford trainer Angela Davies, Salina Dreaming went to the paddock for more than a year after a dominant maiden win as a two-year-old in the autumn of 2019.
She returned in terrific order six weeks ago, destroying a class 2 field at Muswellbrook that included highly capable three-year-old Mr Polar, who has since won his last two.
Even under a veterinary embargo for nine days last month, Salina Dreaming returned home in a BM 64. She was arguably a good thing beat when she covered a stack of ground from a wide gate, yet she still thundered home to miss by a long head.
Even though drawn wide again on Thursday, she's already a proven performer on wet ground and leading metro jockey Brenton Avdulla makes the trip up the highway to ride.
Meanwhile, a trainer based at the giant Warwick Farm production line can remind punters he has his own little love affair with provincial and country tracks.
Of the 38 starts since his now retired group 1 champion Castelvecchio won the Rosehill Guineas on March 31, Richard Litt hasn't had a metro winner. Incredibly, he's had nine victories outside the big smoke - Goulburn and Newcastle both twice, Orange, Muswellbrook, Canberra, Kembla, and at Gosford, where he saddles up two big chances.
Tough four-year-old Lancaster Bomber, who thrives on rain-affected going, looks ready to pounce again fourth-up in a BM 64 Hcp (1200m) after a strong off-speed win in this grade two runs back.
Then his hard-finishing six-year-old mare Joe's Joy attempts to go back-to-back in a wide-open BM 64 handicap over 2600m after surging home to win at Kembla and break a long run of outs.
Supplied by Racing NSW