Horse racing / Ben Asgari / 04 February 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now

Trainer Mark Kavanagh has chosen Moonee Valley on Friday for the much anticipated return of three-year-old Where Gonna Rock. Ben Asgari assesses his chances.

With the massive anticipation of an expected easy victory, it may not prove to be the soft first up kill the stable had hoped for

Race four at Moonee Valley on Friday night, a 0-72 restricted three-year-old event over 1200 metres, is Mark Kavanagh's preferred first up option for arguably the most anticipated second start of any horse in the country.

The horse in question is his three-year-old colt Where Gonna Rock.

The reason for the hype, which sees Where Gonna Rock as the current third favourite for the Australian Guineas, sitting just behind Denman and Cox Plate winner, So You Think, was the manner in which he took out his first start win.

By the four hundred metre mark over 1000 metres at Flemington, Where Gonna Rock gave the promising Mick Price youngster Marconi an almost unbeatable lead, and yet,
despite being extremely green, ended up running past him with ease on the line. The high regard in which the second horse is held by the Price stable only added to the win and the hype surrounding Where Gonna Rock's win.

Stable jockey Michael Rodd will maintain the ride on the Fastnet Rock colt, drawing in barrier six for the first up assignment in which he is likely to start at prohibitively short odds. With the massive anticipation of an expected easy victory, it may not prove to be the soft first up kill the stable had hoped for.

When the rail is out seven metres at Moonee Valley, as it is for Friday night's meeting, it usually means a distinct leader bias. This, coupled with what looks like being an obvious lack of speed on paper, could prove to turn what I'm sure was supposed to be an easy first up kill for Kavanagh's colt into a real test of his ability.

In fact, Friday night's race actually looks to have outstanding depth for a restricted three-year-old Friday night race.

Lee Freedman's talented colt The Comedian could prove to be much more effective when kept to the sprint distances, while the David Hayes trained Voile Rouge ran an unlucky second to the Group One placed King Pulse in the spring. Guru Bob was the only horse in the race to make ground out wide when fourth to Denman, and Red Colossus and No Vacancy have both shown above-average ability.