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Dreams Aplenty to continue Northern Crown quest in Mackay Newmarket

11 July 2019

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By Glenn Davis

Trainer John Zielke is excited about the prospect of winning the Northern Crown bonus series for sprinters with his talented Dreams Aplenty.

Dreams Aplenty missed the first leg of the series when an unlucky third in last week’s Newmarket Handicap at Rockhampton and will be out to redeem himself in Saturday’s $75,000 Newmarket Handicap (1300m) at Mackay.

Gold Coast-based Zielke is confident Dreams Aplenty can win three of the four remaining legs of the Northern Crown series to snatch a six-figure bonus.

Any sprinter which wins three of the nominated five Northern Crown sprint features wins a $100,000 bonus which rises to $150,000 if one of those three races includes the Far North Queensland Amateurs Open Sprint in Cairns in mid-September.

“He should have won the Rocky Newmarket,” Zielke said.

“He was a tragedy beaten when he was held up for a run at the 600 metres until the final 200 metres.

“He was dragged back through the field and was nearly last in the straight at one stage.

“By the time he got out the winner had put a big gap on him and it had all the momentum.”

Dreams Aplenty was ridden by former South African Sean Cormack in the Rockhampton Newmarket but Sydney rider Bobby El-Issa will take over for the rest of his northern campaign.

“I’m feeling really chuffed about his chances of winning the bonus but he’ll need to win three of his next four races,” Zielke said.

“I’ve already booked Bobby (El-Issa) to ride him in his next run in the Cleveland Bay and then if all goes to plan, he’ll run again in the Cairns Newmarket and Cairns Sprint.”

The $100,000 Cleveland Bay Handicap (1300m) will be run in Townsville on July 25.

In early TAB markets for the Mackay Newmarket, Dreams Aplenty is an $8 chance behind Toowoomba sprinter Niccanova at $2.10.

“The good thing about the Mackay Newmarket is we’ve drawn well in barrier five,” Zielke said.

“The Mackay track turns all the time until they get into the straight so a good alley helps a lot.

“He’s got the speed to put himself in a perfect position from the jump and I can’t see him getting beaten really.”

Zielke has had a lot of success with El-Issa in recent times.

“I’ve got five runners on the day at Mackay and Bobby is on four of them,” he said.

“I’ve had a lot of success with him and every 12 months at these carnivals we link up together.”

Racing Queensland webnews   July 12