A hat-trick of wins awaits versatile galloper Brung King if he can translate his 1400m form to the Flemington mile in Saturday’s Silver Bowl Series Final (1600m).
The Henry Dwyer-trained galloper has been a revelation this winter, winning three of his four starts since tasting defeat in a Ballarat maiden on resumption.
Victory on Saturday would see his earnings climb to almost $300,000 and the stable are going into the race with a high degree of confidence.
“We expect him to go there and prove very hard to beat,” Dwyer said of the $4.40 TAB second-favourite.
While all three of Brung King’s wins have come on ground rated Soft 7 or worse, Dwyer doesn’t see the three-year-old as purely a wet-tracker.
“He obviously handles the wet but I don’t think it matters if the track is a Soft 6 or even a 5.
“He’s a pretty adaptable horse and he doesn’t need it wet to win.”
Flemington was rated a Soft 6 on Thursday afternoon, with light showers forecast for Friday.
“We won’t be complaining if the rain does arrive, but it would probably just hinder a couple of his main rivals rather than really elevating him,” Dwyer said.
Brung King’s last-start win over 1400m at Flemington on June 3 was the performance of a genuine miler, according to Dwyer.
“I’m not worried about the rise to 1600m at all – he’s looking for it.
“He would have won by more last start if it was over a mile.
“He was pretty one-paced early in the straight and then really got going late.
“I see him as a miler who will eventually get 2000m,” Dwyer said.
The Ballarat-based trainer won’t be offering riding instructions to Jye McNeil, but he expects Brung King to land ‘somewhere around midfield’ from barrier seven.
Dwyer’s other Flemington runner, Irish Butterfly, was on Thursday caught up in the Wiremu Pinn weight debacle, with the veteran stayer stripped of his second-placing at Sandown Hillside on June 10.
Irish Butterfly was one of 29 horses disqualified after it was found that Pinn rode in Victoria with an incorrect weight claim.
Dwyer was relieved to find out that Racing Victoria will be footing the bill for the prizemoney reallocations, rather than it falling on connections of the disqualified horses.
“I initially thought we were going to be out of pocket when I read about the DQs but it obviously wasn’t our mistake, which has been acknowledged by RV,” Dwyer said.
Irish Butterfly is a $5 equal-favourite for what looks a wide-open Banjo Paterson Series Final (2600m).
“He’s going well. He’s fit and there doesn’t look to be much speed in the race so he’ll just roll across and take up a forward position.
“I think he’ll lead or race outside the leader and will be there for a long way.”
Originally published as Henry Dwyer confident Brung King will reign supreme at Flemington on Finals Day
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