CAN BALASTIER LIVE UP TO THE HYPE IN THE PALMERSTON SPRINT IAT DARWIN?

By Graham Potter | Friday, July 31, 2026

The hype surrounding the four-year-old gelding Balastier going into the $150 000 Palmerston Sprint over 1200m at Darwin on Saturday has been trumpeted on a level seldom seen for a horse racing in the Northern Territory.

The son of Brazen Beau is a seven-time winner from thirteen starts … the last two of those wins coming in succession in his first two starts in Darwin since relocating from the Danny O’Brien yard in Victoria to Darwin based trainer Chloe Baxter.

Balastier’s last result was exceptional … a record breaking romp two weeks ago in which he set a new track record for the Darwin 1200m course, and he did that without being particularly hard pressed, pulverising his opposition to score by a whopping 7.75 length margin, courtesy of his very high cruising speed.

That result and the reaction of Tony Khoury, who is Managing Owner Sean Buckley’s Racing Manager, set off the hype which has helped place Balastier at the top of the betting boards for the Palmerston Sprint at the prohibitive odds of $1.80.

Khoury held nothing back when telling Racenet … "This is the fastest dirt sprint horse in the world. I think he will show that on Saturday and break the track record again.

"They simply won't beat him. He will win by at least two lengths.”

And that effusive anticipation is clearly matched by ambition with Khoury adding, “We are hoping to get an invitation from Dubai to race in one of their sprints, because this horse's times on the dirt here are unbelievable. We could also consider taking the horse to America to race on the dirt.”

Wishful thinking … or a possible reality?

Hopefully for all concerned it is the latter … but that is a story for another day because, as always in racing, it is a case of first things first though, and Balastier, with Jason Lyon again in the saddle, will face ten opponents on Saturday.

Apart from Balastier, only three runners are quoted at odds of less than $21 with Runaway Tycoon ($5.50) and Dakota Lee ($6.50) being rated the best chance of testing Balastier. Boldinho, who finished third, eight lengths behind Balastier last time, is at $12.

The Ella Clarke trained Runaway Tycoon is certainly no slouch and boasts impressive credentials of his own having won his last three starts … all at the Darwin track.

One of those was over 1200m where Runaway Tycoon stopped the clock in just under a second slower than Balastier’s new track record … but Runaway Tycoon did carry 2.5kg more that day then Balastier did in his record breaking run. On Saturday they will meet at level weights (54kg).

Dakota Lee, for her part, does not have that relief at the weights with the Terry Gillett trained mare set to carry 63kg … a daunting task considering the quality of the best of his rivals.

She does come back in distance though after finished a close-up second to Magic Defense over 1600m in the Chief Minister’s Cup.