Courtesy of News Corp
Trainer Cran Dalgety is adamant Krug has one last big Grand Final in him this campaign.
And he’s not fazed by having to overcome a back row draw in Saturday night’s $100,000 Group 1 Queensland Derby at Albion Park.
This will be New Zealand’s most exciting young pacer’s 20th start in the past 13 months, with the only short break coming around Christmas time.
Despite the arduous schedule across both islands of NZ and now in Australia, Dalgety expects Krug to be “as good, if not better than ever” this week.
“A mix of the warm weather here and the fact he’s one of those horses who thrives on racing has him in a great place,” he said.
“I tossed-up racing him last week, but he’s had the two runs here and I thought giving him the two weeks into this was the best way to go.”
Krug boasts terrific early speed so most felt a front row draw would be crucial, but Dalgety is actually relieved with the back row.
“If the emergency comes out, we start from two-out on the back row and follow out American Dealer, who begins well and should give us a good trail through. To be honest, it’s a long race (2680m) and I wanted to be out of the early scrum this week,” he said.