An outstanding beginning marks Todd Pollard’s training path, but the Ipswich Wednesday meet delivers a different dynamic.
Subterrain alongside All Kinds Of Folk represents the Brisbane trainer’s premiere multi-entry in the $38,000 TAB Class 4 Handicap, race six over 1680 metres.
Victors last time, the brace impresses Pollard in fitness, despite his reluctance for their encounter.
“I’d love to be splitting them if I could, but there’s just limited options for these sort of horses,” Pollard said.
“There are not enough races for them on a Saturday at the moment, so you’ve got limited options on the Wednesday meetings and I think they’re both definitely midweek metro horses.”
Assisting Annabel and Rob Archibald previously familiarised Pollard with divided loyalties in races before his recent solo shift.
From 17 starters in less than 60 days, six conquests yield a 35 percent strike rate for the New Zealand 31-year-old.
“I couldn’t be happy with how it’s all panned out,” he said.
“Obviously we’re not going to keep that strike-rate intact, but it’s been a very good start and the horses have been running well,” he said.
“You can’t win them all and you lose more than you win in this game, but it’s a healthy strike-rate and a good way to kick things off.
You need those results straight away to get you off the mark and we’re just lucky we’re having a good run of it at the moment.”
At his second runner, Subterrain captured 1400m at Eagle Farm March 25 for Pollard, then Gold Coast April 10 equivalent.
All Kinds Of Folk transitioned smoothly from John and Chris Ledger in Wangaratta, scoring Sunshine Coast 1400m Anzac Day debut for Pollard.
Group 3 Auraria Stakes (1800m) second last April, the four-year-old barrier two draw with Ryan Maloney books her as Wednesday favourite.
“She’s a horse that’s going to go through the grades up here and hopefully from a good gate tomorrow, she gets every chance and if any rain did come, that would really bring her into it as well,” Pollard said on Tuesday.
Subterrain, three-for-five no worse than placed, rested lately, targets win pre-break and Winter Carnival-following elevations.
“We just backed off him a little bit, he’s a bit of a lightly-framed horse, so we waited for this,” Pollard said.
“He could have run last week, but we decided to wait for this race and he’s probably a horse that we’ll give him this run and then a bit of a freshen up and he can come back after the carnival’s over.”
Ben Thompson rides the gate seven Subterrain, Brisbane’s premier jockey.
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