Man Crush to have day in the sun and be rewarded for recent form in Belmont’s Nicopolis Stakes

Prolific feature event performer Man Crush is banging on the door for another big race win and looms as a leading chance in Saturday’s $100,000 Nicopolis Stakes (1200m) at Belmont. Man Crush ran consecutive seconds in the Beaufine Stakes and H G Bolton Sprint before finishing third in the Belmont Newmarket last time out, meaning he is yet to miss a place this preparation. Being a noted on-speed type, gate one looks perfect for the Luke Fernie-trained $4.40 TABtouch second favourite who is expected to pounce immediately on the lead and attempt an all-the-way win. However, he will face stiff resistance from $3.30 top elect Frigid and a dual-pronged attack from co-trainer Grant Williams, who is upbeat that $8.50 chance Pompey will bounce off a Lark Hill trial while also having Red Fifty Three ($9.50) in the race. “I thought (Pompey’s) trial on Monday was quite good. Chanel (Cooper) said he may have floated a little bit toward the end but he gets headgear put on tomorrow and normally runs a really good race first-up,” Williams told TABradio. “(Red Fifty Three) is maybe not going as good as he was a few months ago, so we’ll see how he goes tomorrow and whether he goes to the Hannans (Kalgoorlie, October 2) or whether he goes out, that’ll be up to effort.” Despite having a large team engaged at Belmont, Williams will be at Flemington overseeing the start of Alsephina’s Melbourne campaign in the $300,000 Group 2 Furphy Let’s Elope Stakes (1400m). “She wasn’t the easiest one that I’ve flown before - she’s a little bit insecure this mare - so it took her a couple of days to settle down over here,” Williams said. “But she’s really good now and she looks good this morning (Friday). “We’re going into that race maybe needing the hit-out - we’ve got a wide gate so it’s worked out pretty good for us, really. We’ll go round and hopefully hit the line strong and look forward to the next one. “She’ll go to the Stock (Moonee Valley, September 27) after tomorrow and she’ll be nice and settled by this time next week and we should be able to really look forward to her best.” Jockey Shaun McGruddy will ride $17 outsider Currimundi for trainer Steve Wolfe in the feature, resuming after winning the Diggers Cup on ANZAC Day. “I thought he trialled super. It’s hard to say that he can win because he’s never won over 1200m before and now he’s got to do it in open company giving some weight away to some proper 1200m horses, but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me or Wolfey,” McGruddy said. “We think he’s gone to the next level and a first-up win or top three finish would not surprise.”