Perfect way to celebrate 25th anniversary

ASTUTE horseman Paul Cavallaro can’t think of a better way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his first Southern Cross Final win than to capture another!

In 2000 Cavallaro secured the Two-Year-Old Colts’ and Geldings’ Final with the Peter Sergi and Joe Carbone-trained Duomo.

Cavallaro then marked the 20th anniversary by training Artillery to outclass his rivals in the futurity.

Fast forward to Saturday night’s Globe Derby meeting and Cavallaro will tackle the $35,000 feature with Gym Junkie.

“Geez, 25 years!” Cavallaro said. “I remember that night, we had a pretty good celebration after it.

“Hopefully we can do it again on Saturday night, but 25 years later, I’m not sure the celebrations will be as exciting.”

Winner of his heat last weekend, Gym Junkie has drawn to lead from the pole, with Cavallaro confident the son of Stay Hungry can make the most of his starting position.

“He has pulled up great from his last run and his work this week has been terrific,” Cavallaro said. “He has plenty of gate speed and is very tough, so we’ll be looking to utilize both of those.

“Plus Gaita (Pullicino, driver) loves to lead, so I’d say she will want to keep it.”

At a $1.10 in early markets, Hez So Royal is the obvious one to beat according to Cavallaro.

Winner of his last three starts, the Alan Cronin-traine gelding has drawn five but moves into four once the emergency is out of the equation.

Gym Junkie is on the second line of betting at $6.

“Alan’s horse has been outstanding all season and deserves to be favourite,” Cavallaro said. “That said, my fella has been improving all the time and I think we can give him a run for his money.”