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A Look at the Gawler Cup

2016 Gawler Cup winner King’s Pardon is set to defend his title on Sunday but he’ll face some stiff competition in the feature which includes last week’s Murray Bridge Gold Cup winner Excites Zelady.

The Marilyn Smith trained gelding was a 30/1 winner in last year’s Cup when he upset his more fancied rivals including Royal Rumble and Little Akie. The Gawler Cup will be King’s Pardon’s third run back from a spell and he’ll have a slight drop back in class from his last start where he ran tenth in the Listed Wylie Handicap in September.

Excites Zelady claimed his third Murray Bridge Gold Cup last Friday for trainer Chris Bieg and will be looking for some better luck at Gawler on Sunday than he has had in the past. Excites Zelady has contested three Gawler Cups without any success but he has won twice over the 1500m in his career.  

Royal Rumble returns to the Gawler Cup after running second behind King’s Pardon in the 2016 edition. The Leon Macdonald & Andrew Gluyas trained gelding started favourite in last year’s Cup and will be looking to go one better than last year. In his last run he fished fourth behind Lope De Capio in the Listed Durbridge Stakes.

Another horse to come out of the Durbridge is the Shane Oxlade trained Ustinov’s Fury. This year’s Port Lincoln Cup winner ran sixth in the Durbridge when first up from a spell and comes into the Gawler Cup with a sensational 6:1-2-2 second up record. Murray Bridge Gold Cup winning jockey Justin Potter will continue his association with the galloper.

It And A Bit ran fourth in last week’s Murray Bridge Gold Cup and will step back to the 1500m where he has a great 9:2-3-1 record over the distance. Another interesting runner in the field is the Anthony Freedman trained Battlecamp. He was last seen running fourth at Cranbourne on October 15 and the start prior he finished fifth behind the Will Clarken trained Steel Frost at Caulfield.

The local hope in the Gawler Cup is the Gary Searle trained Lady Silhouette. The mare has had a little freshen up since her second placing behind Spy Decoder at Morphettville in September. She has an amazing 11:5-2-2 record at the track and should definitely not be overlooked on her home track.

The Holdfast Insurance Brokers Gawler Cup will be run at 4.05pm on Sunday.

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