Platinum Invador has best 3200m form but he’s a $41 outsider in Saturday’s Brisbane Cup

Platinum Invador might be one of the rank outsiders in Saturday’s A$400,000 Brisbane Cup but trainer Lisa Latta says he’ll be the fittest he’s ever been.

And even though he’s quoted at the outsized odds of $41 and $8, and has drawn the outside gate, he has the best 3200 metre record in the race which Latta says gives him a real chance to turn his form around.

“Since his last run we’ve really ramped up his workload so he goes into the race the fittest he has ever been.”

Latta says Platinum Invador’s strapper Jerram Wall has been very happy with the way the horse has been working and says he has noticed a lot of improvement in him.

“He was obviously slightly disappointing last start, but it had been five weeks in between runs.”

Platinum Invador’s campaign started badly for owners Neville McAlister and Lincoln Farms’ John and Lynne Street when a high temperature saw him scratched from his planned opener at Doomben on May 13.

So when he lined up in the Premier’s Cup (2400m) at Eagle Farm on May 27 he was well in need of the race, his first for five weeks.

Platinum Invador made a short-lived run that day, finishing ninth and all of six lengths behind Chris Waller’s Kukeracha, one of the favourites on Saturday.

But that was only the horse’s second poor run this preparation, following the Trentham Stakes in January when he was trapped three wide with no cover the entire way.

In his other eight starts he did not finish further back than fifth, despite often having to plough through tracks much wetter than he likes.

When he struck reasonable footing at Pukekohe on March 11, he exploded in the run home for rider Ryan Elliot to win the Auckland Cup at 3200 metres, racing past Australian visitor Nerve Not Verve who is at half his odds on Saturday.

It was Platinum Invador’s third run over two miles, following his third in the 2020 Auckand Cup and fourth in the same race a year later.

That record reads better than any of his rivals and has earned him equal topweight of 58kg, likely to be the killer factor with a number of up-and-coming lightweights in the field.

Elliot will also have to be right on top of his game, jumping from the extreme outside gate of 16.

Latta sees Elliot’s booking, however, as key to Platinum Invador’s chances.

“That’s a big plus as Ryan knows how to ride him. He’s going to have to go back and probably look to get going early.”

Only three of Platinum Invador’s 15 rivals have scored over 3200 metres and, incredibly, $3 favourite Teofilo Star’s two wins were both over hurdles.

True Marvel’s last-start win over 3200 metres was also in a hurdle at Hamilton but he claims better long trip form through a close second to Explosive Jack in April’s Sydney Cup.

The only other 3200 metre winner, Selino, bagged his wins in a lowly race at Wolverhampton in 2019 and at Randwick in the 2021 Sydney Cup. His sole recent claim to fame is a sixth in the Sydney Cup on a soft track on April 8, beaten 3.9 lengths.

Longest winning distance

The list below details the longest winning distance recorded by each of Saturday’s cup runners:

Kukeracha: 2400m(2)

Platinum Invador: 3200m

Selino: 3200m, 3350m

Nerve Not Verve: 2600m

True Marvel: 3000m, 3100m, 3200m, 3800m

Southern France: 2800m

Al Aabir: 2400m

Warning: 2600m (2)

Teofilo Star: 3200m, 3400m

Outlandos: 2400m (2)

Tappy’s Lad: 2500m

Yaphet: 1600m (2)

Long Arm: 2500m

Southern Stock: 2000m

Essential Sky: 2400m (2)

Credit Crunch: 2400m

Platinum Invador races at 3.28pm NZ time at Eagle Farm on Saturday.