Bank Robber possible steal in Sydney for Waterhouse
Horse racing 
/ Brad Thompson / 17 December 2009 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market
Bank Robber has been kept fresh since his third at Flemington on November 7, but has been kept ticking along with an impressive Randwick barrier trial win over 1050m, two weeks ago
Despite being allocated the clear top weight, trainer Gai Waterhouse has selected this Saturday's Listed Razor Sharp Handicap at Randwick (1200m) as the race to return five-year-old Bank Robber to Sydney racing, writes Brad Thompson.
After a successful stint in Melbourne, which saw Bank Robber compete credibly without winning in high-class sprint races, the gelding returns to the clockwise way of racing with an impost of 61kg on his back.
One of Waterhouse's more travelled gallopers, Bank Robber has ventured west and north in recent years in search of group 1 glory. He journeyed to Perth to tackle the Railway Stakes late in 2008 for a fifth placing, before heading North for Queensland's winter Carnival in 2009 where he was narrowly denied a Group 1 win by Duporth in the B.T.C Cup over 1200m.
He has been placed three times at Group 1 level, warranting the sizeable weight he will be forced to carry in Saturday's $100 000 feature race. However, when reflecting on his last start (third in the Group 1 Patinack Farm Classic behind talented sprinter All Silent) where he lugged 58.5 on the weight-for-age scale, it could be said he doesn't appear to be weighted unfavourably.
With the additional weight, Blake Shinn, who has ridden Bank Robber in his last two starts, has been replaced by Nash Rawiller to avoid carrying too much dead weight in the saddle.
Bank Robber has been kept fresh since his third at Flemington on November 7, but has been kept ticking along with an impressive Randwick barrier trial win over 1050m two weeks ago. The son of Dash for Cash's last four attempts at the 1200m trip, all in black type company, have produced placings behind Group 1 winners.
The sentimental favourite for the race will be Nuclear Sky after the passing of his legendary trainer, Jack Denham, on Monday. Denham's son, Allan, will take over the training of the seven-year-old who returns to racing after a break of almost six months.
Nuclear Sky faces a tough order to produce some magic for connections, having not once in his career so far won over less than 1500m. If he was in fact able to salute first up, there would not be any resentment from anyone involved in the racing game, nor a dry eye in the Denham camp.
