Handsome grey leads Dyer’s CM Cup assault

Sat, July 10 2010

VICTORIAN trainer Neil Dyer concedes Palmyra Boy will spearhead his three-pronged assault on today's $40,000 TT Foods Chief Minister's Cup (1600m).

The Kyneton horseman also saddles up Hawks Bay and Test The Scene, but says the smart grey's impressive Fannie Bay record provides him the best chance of giving the Day 2 Darwin Cup Carnival feature a real shake.

"I think he's the best chance of the three in the race," Dyer told the Northern Territory News.

"It's like he's tailor-made for Darwin _ he handles going down the hill and the corners here extra well.

"He's drawn barrier four and (jockey) Jan's (Cameron) on him again, so I expect him to run a good race."

Palmyra Boy has finished no worse than fourth in eight Bay appearances and tasted success four times, most notably in last years Metric Mile and in the first leg of the ROANT Cup (1300m) a fortnight ago.

On top of that, he has won both previous starts at the Bay mile.

Top-weight Hawks Bay continues his path towards the Darwin Cup (2000m) this afternoon and Dyer is pleased with the progress of his stable star.

"I couldn't be much happier with him," Dyer said. "He's about 85-90 per cent fit at the moment and there's no issue with him at all. We're pleased to have (jockey) Paul (Shiers) riding him again, we were always planning for that to be the case."

If form is any indication, Test The Scene is a pretty good third-stringer for Dyer.

The six-year-old is a horse on the up and has run third to Canali, and second to Shout Out Loud in his two Darwin appearances so far.

"We bought him off Terry Kelly about six months ago with Darwin in mind and he's just got better and better," Dyer said."It was a late decision to chuck him on board for Alice Springs where he won twice in three days and his two runs here have been excellent.

"The barrier (12) is the biggest problem for him, but Shout Out Loud and Lucid Reflection are drawn on the inside of him, so he might be able to get a pull into the race from them coming across."

Leading bookmaker Sportingbet agrees with Dyer thoughts on his own runners, posting Palmyra Boy a $7.00 third favourite behind hotpot Shout Out Loud ($2.80) and second-elect Lucid Reflection ($6.00).

Hawks Bay and Test The Scene are both rated $13 chances.

Story Courtey Gregor Mactaggart - NT News