Lindsay Park trainers Ben, Will and J D Hayes will saddle two runners in the inaugural running of The Supernova at Pakenham.
The Supernova is the second slot race staged by Southside Racing, the merged entity of the Cranbourne Turf Club and the Pakenham Racing Club.
The Ciaron Maher-trained Nadal took out the first instalment, The Meteorite (1200m) at Cranbourne on November 23, while the second $1 million slot race will be staged over 1400m at Pakenham on Saturday.
The Lindsay Park team will be represented by Here To Shock and Arkansaw Kid with Here To Shock running for Lindsay Park Racing while Arkansaw Kid will line-up for Cavallo Park.
Will Hayes said there were excuses for Here To Shock when tenth in the Big Dance at Randwick on November 5, his most recent start, after victories at Newcastle and Rosehill in the lead-up.
“He’s had a very good campaign, a very good campaign on the road, striking a number of times interstate,” Hayes said.
“But he came out of the Big Dance with heart arrhythmia, so we’ve just given him a bit of time between runs.
“He had a really nice jump out at Flemington last week, so we go to the race with a nice bit of confidence behind us.”
It is a little over five weeks since Here To Shock last raced, but Hayes said the gelding had freshened up nicely at Lindsay Park’s Euroa property.
“He loves it at the farm,” Hayes said.
“He’s a horse that really thrives in the day paddocks and it only took a couple of days for him to bounce out of that third interstate campaign.”
Arkansaw Kid was never a factor when finishing down the track in The Meteorite but bounced back the following week when cut down late by Welwal, an opponent on Saturday, in the Kevin Heffernan Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on November 30.
That last start effort gave the Hayes brothers the confidence to try Arkansaw Kid again at the 1400m journey on Saturday.
“It was the second time this prep that he got nailed on the line and it was a little bit hard to watch,” Hayes said.
“But I think he really did run out of a strong 1400 metres and that was on a heavy track as well, a testing track, so we’ll get a better surface this weekend and he’s certainly copping his racing a lot better than he was last prep.”
Hayes is confident, pre-barrier draw, that his two runners will feature at the business end.
“I think they’re both going to make their own luck being forward of midfield,” Hayes said.
“Here To Shock, we know likes to bowl along at a decent pace and Arkansas Kid, I think the key to him running out a strong 1400 (metres) is settling early.
“I think if they both get the right runs in transit, they should be fighting out the finish.”
