Gold Crown and Gold Tiara barrier draws add spice to the finals night

The draw for the feature two-year-old finals of the annual Gold Crown Carnival, which this year will carry $150,000 in prize money as well as Group 1 status, were staged on Monday night.

Prior to the draw Menangle Park trainer-driver Rickie Alchin had been tipped to make carnival history with Soho Spectre (Gold Crown) and Lux Aeterna (Gold Tiara).

After the draw bestowing favouritism is much trickier.

"It put a cat amongst the pigeons with the favourite in the crown going to the second row, he's drawn 12," carnival master of ceremonies Chris Gray said.

"He was the early favourite Soho Spectre, he was going to be just about impossible to beat, but he's drawn 12. With Rickie's other one in the tiara, she drew the same, she's on the second row there too, Lux Aeterna drew 10.

"Rickie Alchin was looking like he was going to be the first person ever to train and drive both the winner of the crown and tiara on the one night.

"Based on past performances both were going to be very, very hard to beat, it looked like the first time in the 37-year history of the carnival the same trainer-driver would win both races, but it's not going to happen I don't think now.

"If it does it will be remarkable ... draws can blow the daylight out of you."

Though Alchin's pair will need plenty to work in their favour once the arms on the barrier fold back in their respective 1,730 metre finals, their quality does make it hard to completely overlook them.

Soho Spectre is unbeaten in three runs, while no two-year-old filly in Australia has gone faster this season than Lux Aeterna.

Gray also points that "people have won this race from all over".

"I do keep telling people that Sheza Lobell won the tiara out of the second line at the Showground. They came out of 10 and at the Showground, that's a much shorter straight than this one, but she just went whack," he said.

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With the horses that shaped as the favourites for Saturday's final copping tricky draws, it has boosted the chances of other contenders.

In the Gold Crown Final that includes the Steve Turnbull trained Misterfourthousand. He was a heat winner, but he still will need luck in running from barrier five.

"They're going to go hard early, and they always do, Nathan Jack's [Chart Topper] going to fly out of the one and obviously Tomahawk Bart will from barrier two," Gray explained.

"So Misterfourthousand, look if he can slot in he could do anything. His time in the heat wasn't all that spectacular, he didn't blow them away, but he just continues to improve.

"It would be a wonderful thing for Steve to do, he won the tiara in 2015 with Pixies Parlour, but he's never trained a winner of the crown, 4,000 wins and he's never trained a winner of the crown.

"He's driven the winner once, that was in 2002 with Burrell."

The other local runners in the Gold Crown are Royal Cruiser (barrier 11) and Beachride (barrier eight), members of Bernie Hewitt's team. Both placed second in their heats.

"Beachride, he mucked up so much on the day of the heats, threw himself down, had to go off the track and get sorted, but then he came out and ran second," Gray said.

"So he's obviously got a heap of talent and Bernie knows how to do it, he won the tiara last year and the crown with College Chapel."

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But in Gray's mind, it is fastest qualifier Timmy Rictor, who is the best chance. He's from the powerhouse Emma Stewart stable.

"He's a $7,500 yearling purchase at the Bathurst sale, in his heat he was three wide for 700 metres but he was like a big kid loping along and then went whack and went 1:55 and change," Gray said.

"That was two seconds faster than any other heat. He's going to come out behind Nathan Jack and is he going to give up the lead? I don't think so.

"So I think Timmy Rictor sits behind him and if he gets to the sprint lane and explodes like he did in the heats, well he's my tip."

As for the Gold Tiara Final, Gray says: "I reckon there could be a real upset" given the way the barrier draw unfolded.

"Lux Aeterna is the best filly in the race I think by a mile, but gee whizz, from that barrier 10 draw, that's not easy," he said.

"La Derniere, it's 66-1 but I think it's a really good sneaky place chance as it will go from two once the emergencies come out. It ran the fastest last 400 of any of the heats I believe ... so it's come home really solid."

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