Ethan Ensby will head home on Saturday in search of his first Casino Cup.
The Casino product, based in Ballina these days, has a team of four entered and will start Eyes To Eye (Matthew Palmer) in the $35,000 The Charcoal Inn Casino Cup (1400m).
Ensby is yet to win a Casino or Beef Week Cup, and he admitted that both races were goals high on his bucket list.
“I haven’t won either of them; if I won a Casino Cup, I’d be over the moon, but I really want to win a Beef Week Cup,” Ensby said.
“For a Casino person, that’s like winning the Melbourne Cup.”
Eyes To Eye has drawn well with gate five, and after a good showing in Grafton’s Maclean Cup last month, Ensby is predicting a big run at Casino.
“That run in the Maclean Cup was a pretty good run,” Ensby said.
“He had a two-week freshen-up in the paddock with the idea of going into that race with some sort of a run under his belt, whether that be a race or a barrier trial.
“Unfortunately, a virus went through the stable, which set me back, and he went into the Maclean Cup without a trial or run.”
Despite going into the race ‘one run short of his best’, Palmer got a lot out of the Eyes To Eye, which led after going forward from the wide alley.
The five-year-old was found wanting in the final furlong but hung on gamely, beaten less than three lengths when finishing fourth to the Damien Lane-trained Too Good To Be Tru.
“Don’t get me wrong, he had heaps of work at home before the Maclean Cup, but he missed that match fitness that he would have had if he had been afforded that run, so considering he was first-up, it was a massive effort,” Ensby said.
“That track was pretty firm on that day, and he’s obviously got exceptional wet track form, and generally going to Grafton on the last Sunday of the carnival, you are expecting a chopped up, rain-affected track, but we got the complete opposite.
“Many things went against him, and he hung in and just got beat, and I think the run is full of merit.”
Of his other chances on the seven-race card, Ensby likes Belle Tycoon (Noriyuki Masuda) in the 1200m Maiden Plate.
“If Belle Tycoon starts, I think her last run was full of merit, and I’m not worried about the bad gate (15) with her,” Ensby said.
“She is a massive, big filly, but her biggest drama will be whether she gets around the track.
“She needs galloping room and has got speed from the gate, and she should be able to cross them easily.”
Shotgun Bobby (Matthew Palmer) is another of the stable’s chances in the 1400m Class Three Handicap.
“Shotgun Bobby is going well, and he was another one that raced at Grafton on Maclean Cup day, and he got too far back on the track when nothing was making ground,” Ensby said.
“For a Class 3 1400m, it’s not the strongest race, and if the horse gels with Matt Palmer, he could potentially run well.”
Ensby will also start Majestic Teako (Matthew Palmer) in the 1400m Maiden Handicap.
It’s shaping to be a big day at Casino on Saturday, with the program upgraded to full TAB status following Lismore’s abandonment on Monday.
Tonight, there is the Casino Gold Cup Calcutta at The Charcoal Inn, which is a 6 pm start, while on Saturday, the eight-race card will be complemented by entertainment and fashions on the field.
For more on the race day, click here.
For Casino fields, click here.
