Here we go again.: Two warriors do battle once more at the Park
Garrick Knight - Raceform • December 30th, 2024 3:00 PM
Raceform
It’s Muscle Mountain versus Oscar Bonavena for the 28th time at Alexandra Park on Tuesday evening when the elite duo square-off yet again in the Gr.1 $100,000 Peter Breckon Memorial National Trot.
Sure, there are six others in the field, but the power pair are $1.65 (Oscar Bonavena) and $2 (Muscle Mountain), to the exclusion of everything else with third favourite Faith In Manchester at $21.
Is it as simple as Muscle Mountain (drawn three) blasts off the gate and leads, with Oscar Bonavena (two) settling on his back?
The former’s driver Ben Hope sure thinks so.
“That’s got to be how you play it, to be fair,” he told RaceForm from his temporary West Coast base at Westport on Friday.
“If I don’t go out of the gate I am handing it to him, and if I do he’s sitting pretty in the box seat on our back.
“It’ll be a tough ask because Oscar is such a good sit-sprinter, whereas I like to think we’re tougher.”
Interestingly, Muscle Mountain has finished in front of Oscar Bonavena in 18 of those 27 Alexander Park clashes, but most of the latter’s nine ‘wins’ have been in more recent times.
Hope concedes that Oscar Bonavena is in career-best form, whereas Muscle Mountain has only just returned to something like that with a gritty David Moss Stakes win at Ascot Park last week after a decent but winless spring.
“I know last week’s race at Invercargill wasn’t the best of the best, but off 30 metres is never easy, and I thought to do what he did was an excellent effort.
“Sure, Oscar is in a great vein of form and does deserve to be favourite, but with the way we went last week, I’m very happy with where he’s at.”
Both star trotters are only in Auckland after Australian champion Just Believe suffered an injury and went home early.
“Our plan was always Invercargill then Omakau, but once Just Believe got injured we thought we had to have a crack at another Group One,” Hope said.
Hope’s parents, Greg and Nina, will also have three runners at Rangiora on Wednesday and Ben felt Westar Molly was the best of them.
“From the draw, she’s not a bad chance. Her last start she drew bad and had missed a trial, so I’d like to think we’ll see a better horse this time.”
Picture at the Top of the Page: Muscle Mountain (left) and Oscar Bonavena (Right) clash for a remarkable 28th time at Alexandra Park in the Peter Breckon Memorial National Trot. Photo: Supplied
