Aiken unfazed by the confrontation with Swayzee

THE prospect of taking on two-time New Zealand Cup winner Swayzee does not bother leading running coach David Aiken.

His stable star Max Delight (Gambler’s delight) has had a short break since finishing fifth behind Kingman at Menangle in mid-September.

Of course, Kingman put in an extraordinary performance to win the Victoria Cup.

Swayzee may be just as big a hurdle for Max Delight, but Aiken has stated that he couldn’t be happier with his regally bred son of Bettors Delight.

And he admitted that every time Max Delight raced, he expected to have a number of class opponents waiting for him.

“There are so many nice horses out there right now,” Aiken says.

“The bottom four in Max Delight’s race seem to have a small class lead over the others.

“It’s a good race and the draw makes it interesting.”

Aiken said Max Delight had tried out perfectly for his return to the Menangle circuit this Saturday evening in Race 4, the 1609-metre Graham McNeice Memorial.

“He broke 26 seconds when he came home in his test and I’m very happy with where he is now.

“After Saturday evening we will be back next week for the Italian Cup, my guy is the defending champion.

“We’ll see how he gets through that, but we’re really keen to get to Wagga next for their Carnival Of Cups race.

“The track doesn’t worry the horse.

“We raced him at Young and he rode fine at that track, but last year, with Inter Dominions and other races in December, it was just the wrong time for us.

“I would have liked to participate in some of those national cups, but you simply cannot participate in everything.

“The tracks do make a difference and I enjoy going to Wagga.

“They always put on a good show there.

‘I know Lucas [McCarthy] is also planning to go there with Don Hugo, so that should be a nice field.

“The Italian Cup next week should also be a good field.”

Aiken also has both of his square leggings, the promising Pesco Pollo and Speedy Lover, who lap 2300 meters in Race 7.

“Pesco Pollo was brave last week and this looks like a fairly even race.

“He’s going from a midweek race to a Saturday night, but I think he’s a Saturday night horse.”

Aiken says Max Delight is still his best hope: “He never runs a bad race.”

For full race entries, click here.

Through Michael Hof for Harness Racing New South Wales