Dawson has sights on maiden Group 1 glory

By Andrew Adermann

Trent Dawson will saddle up two key players in Saturday night’s Group 1 2YO Fillies QBRED Triad Final in what he believes will be a wide-open affair.

Talent To Spare and Tancaltra Lis will represent the Dawson stable, and whilst the latter has drawn the gun run from gate one, Dawson would’ve been hoping for the stablemates to have swapped starting positions.

The $34 outsider in Tancaltra Lis will look to settle off the speed early, while Dawson, who is doing the driving behind Talent To Spare, will have to be at his best to weave a path through for the horse he rates as one of the best in the field. 

“It’s definitely a good achievement to have two horses lining up in a Group 1, and to be fair I think Talent To Spare probably has a really good chance on Saturday night,” Dawson said.

“It feels like only half the job is done being in there, but I would love to get a result of some sort.”

Talent To Spare is coming off the most disappointing run of her five-start career two weeks ago after finishing a distant seventh to another rising star in Uncle Shank.

That run aside, she has never finished outside of the top two placings, and Dawson holds a big opinion of his two-year-old filly.

“It’s hard to predict where she’ll end up from that draw, it’s a real shame for her because I think there’s something special about her and I’d say she’s as good as anything in the field,” Dawson said.

“She’s just going to have to come from as bad a draw in the field as any one of the main chances.

“She’s going to have to be good and I’m going to have to be good!”

Tancaltra Lis is a sole winner from seven career starts and takes a big step up in class to Group 1 company, however, getting the inside run from gate one will significantly help her cause come Saturday evening.

“She is probably given more of a chance with the good barrier draw that she’s got,” Dawson said.

“She might find the class a little too much but from the barrier draw it will help her a lot.

“I would not be surprised at all if she could sneak herself in to a little cheque somewhere there, it would be great for the owners if she could and obviously good for me if she could!

“Hopefully she can get a nice run, and Nathan Dawson is driving her so it’s up to him now.

“I’d be surprised if she was in front but it would be nice if she was behind the leader or somewhere handy.”

In what is one of the most open feature races of the winter, Dawson identified three outside of his own that he thinks will be in the money.

“I think the two and the three (Shes Miss Devine and Jaziah), as well as Grant Dixon’s horse (Jasper) - she’s probably the toughest and most professional one I’ve seen in the race,” Dawson said.

“They’ll have to be too because they all have better draws and will probably have to use more early, so hopefully they spend a bit too much.”

The Dawson family will be a live hope to snare both of the meet’s Group 1 events, with sister Kelli partnering Group 1 winner and race favourite Manila Playboy in the Group 1 2YO Colts & Geldings QBRED Triad Final.

However, don’t expect any kind of celebrations if they do pull off the double.

“I’d be quite happy to go home on Saturday night with my partner Crystal (Towns) and the kids, a sleep in would be perfect – I’d take that over any kind of party,” he said.

Elsewhere, in the second of the feature races, the nation’s leading trainer Grant Dixon will launch a four-pronged attack on the boy’s final led by $7 chance Chamonix.

Sharing equal favouritism with Manila Playboy at $2.70 is Big Wheels, trained by Chantal Turpin and driven by husband Pete McMullen.