The barrier draws favour Keep The Peace to turn the tables on Wall Street in the $250,000 Spring Classic at Hastings tomorrow.
Keep The Peace won the Mudgway Stakes (1400m), the first leg of the spring treble at Hastings by a nose from the fast-finishing Wall Street.
Wall Street won the second leg, the Windsor Park Plate (1600m) with Keep The Peace, third after being confined to racing on the inside of a slow track.
The track at Hastings was rated good yesterday. Keep The Peace, to be ridden by James McDonald, has drawn nine while Wall Street has drawn 14 in a 16-horse field.
No horse has won the 2000m spring feature at Hastings from further out than barrier 13. That was Xcellent in 2005 in a field of 16.
Keep The Peace is proven over ground, with success in the New Zealand Oaks at Trentham last March.
Wall Street has not raced beyond 1600m. He has won nine of his 16 starts. He is by a staying sire, Montjeu, out of the lightly raced Grand Lodge mare whose dam, Gisarne, won over 2000m in England.
His stablemate, Vosne Romanee, should appreciate the firmer ground. He won the race last year as a 7yr-old. Princess Coup, also an Oaks winner, won the Hastings feature in 2007 and '08. No horse older than 7 has succeeded.
Ginga Dude is attempting to go one better than last year. He won fresh up over 1400m at Ellerslie on September 4 and finished fifth in his subsequent start over 1600m at Pukekohe under 59kg.
Don't Say Clang is racing at Hastings in preference to the Spring Classic on his home track at Riccarton. He ran fourth over 2000m at Hastings at his last start on September 18.
• New Zealand TAB market. -
Spring Classic: $3.60 Wall Street; $4 Keep The Peace; $6.50 Vosne Romanee; $8 Ginga Dude; $10 Veloce Bella; $15 The Hombre, My Keepsake; $21 Fritzy Boy, Time Keeper, Iluminates, Hoorang; $31 Hold It Harvey; $61 Bruce Almighty; $201 Pyrate Princess.
