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By Ray Hickson

The lure of a ticket into the $3 million Big Dance for talented galloper Akasawa has drawn Paul Messara to Sunday’s $40,000 Mannion Drilling Gunnedah Cup (1600m) – and the trainer has his fingers crossed it’s the right call.

Trainer Paul Messara (Pic: Bradley Photos)

If Akasawa is to win his way into the Royal Randwick feature later this year he will have to do it with 63.5kg as the Gunnedah Cup is weighted as a country race and the five-year-old has a 95 rating.

Messara said there’s no doubt Akasawa is in peak form, coming off a dominant win in city grade at the Scone carnival, he just doesn’t know how much weight is too much.

“The horse is going well, it’s just what the tipping point will be,’’ Messara said.

“When you’re putting 63.5kg on it’s a bit like lifting the weights at the Olympics. They lift 101kg above their head and they put 102kg on and they can’t lift off the ground.

“It’s just where the tipping point is and I don’t know where that will be. Whether it’s too much and will anchor him down we won’t know until the day.”

In Messara’s estimation, the gelding is a robust horse and that’s why he’s rolling the dice. Akasawa carried 60.5kg to his runaway win over 1700m at Scone.

The Gunnedah Cup is the 18th Big Dance eligible country cup and so far 12 of the 17 winners have come from non-metropolitan stables, the latest being Scone trained Commando Hunt who took out his home town Cup earlier this month.

“Realistically I wouldn’t have been going to this race if it wasn’t a Big Dance eligible race, I’d be waiting until next week at Rosehill,’’ Messara said.

“There’s an 1800m race there that would have been perfect for him.

“I don’t know if I’ll regret my decision but it’s a shot at a lottery ticket so that’s what we’re doing.”

Akasawa, $2.90 with TAB on Saturday, will ultimately be carrying top weight in the Gunnedah Cup as the two horses weighted above him have claimed away from their weight but that was never in Messara’s thinking and he’s happy to retain Aaron Bullock.

“The draw is perfect, he’ll be doing no work. I’d prefer to carry the weight and put on a senior, Aaron knows the horse very well,’’ he said.

Tapa Kick is one of only 10 named horses from his sire Scissor Kick’s last season at stud in Australia and Messara said the youngster is a very different type of horse to his sire’s most famous progeny – TAB Everest winner Giga Kick.

The two-year-old makes his debut in the James Bradford Rural Plate (1400m) and Messara is more hopeful than anything as he feels at least a mile will be needed in the future.

Akasawa wins at Scone on May 13

“He’s a stayer so he’s having his first start against the older horses,’’ he said.

“I’m not expecting much, just a nice run from him and a progressive run for the future. He’s going to want a mile to 2000m.”

The reigning Everest winner was from Scissor Kick’s third of four seasons at stud at Arrowfield. He shuttled to France for three of them and didn’t return in 2020, winding up in Tunisia of all places.

“If Giga Kick had come in his first crop it would have been a completely different story. It’s interesting how it works out,’’ Messara said.

All the entries, form and replays for Sunday’s Gunnedah Cup meeting