The stars are aligning in Ballarat this Friday night, with four individual Group 1 winners resuming from spells in a sensational edition of the John Slack Memorial Trotters Cup.
Bray Raceway’s annual squaregaiting feature has drawn a capacity field, with Red Hot Tooth (Kari Males), Always Ready, Im Ready Jet (pictured) (Anton Golino/Jack MacKinnon) and McLovin (Andy Gath) the elite level winners to return from breaks in the $25,000 race.
Other top-liners Margaret Ruth (Anne-Maree Conroy) and Havehorsewilltravel (Gath) are also back to contest the Group 3 event.
The $15,000 Colin and Heather Holloway 3YO Classic is the other feature on the card and has drawn seven quality youngsters.
After Ballarat, Saturday night metropolitan racing returns to Tabcorp Park Melton for the first time since June 26, with the TAB/VHRC Jane Ellen (Group 3) and VHRC/Aldebaran Park Benefiting Our Members Winter Trotters Cup Final (Group 2) headlining the meeting.
The night’s fast class event – the Become A VHRC Member Today Free For All – sees the return of Scott Ewen’s top pacer Bulletproof Boy, as well as the appearance of Mildura marvel Bernie Winkle for his first start at Melton since November last year.
In a bumper week of racing in Victoria, there will be double-headers on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with Melton to play host to three meetings in the space of six days.
THE WEEK AHEAD
TUESDAY
Swan Hill (night)
After picking up the Mildura meeting last week, racing is back at Swan Hill for a short and sharp six-event card, with the first to go at 5.02pm.
WEDNESDAY
Tabcorp Park Melton (day)
Melton kicks off a massive day of racing in Victoria, with expanded Trots Vision coverage planned for the afternoon.
Shepparton (night)
Racing continues into the evening with nine events from the Goulburn Valley called by Lachlan McIntosh
THURSDAY
Stawell (day)
A big Thursday of action begins in Stawell, with Rob Auber to call the six races.
Bendigo (night)
Lachlan McIntosh is behind the binoculars at Lord’s Raceway, which fires up on the back of the meeting at Stawell.
FRIDAY
Mildura (day)
A third-straight day of double-header meetings gets underway in the Sunraysia, where Luke Humphreys calls the action.
Ballarat (night)
A cracking card of racing is scheduled for Ballarat, with Dan Mielicki on hand to broadcast the Group 3 John Slack Memorial Trotters Cup and Colin and Heather Holloway 3YO Classic. Extended Trots Vision coverage is also planned for thetrots.com.au.
SATURDAY
Tabcorp Park Melton (night)
Metropolitan racing returns to Victorian headquarters after a four-week hiatus, with the 10-race card headlined by the TAB/VHRC Jane Ellen (Group 3) and VHRC/Aldebaran Park Benefiting Our Members Winter Trotters Cup Final (Group 2).
SUNDAY
Cranbourne (twilight)
The club picks up its regular weekend timeslot in the Sunday twilight zone.
MONDAY
Tabcorp Park Melton (day)
Melton hosts a meeting for the third time in the space of six days, with a mix of $4500 and $7000 races scheduled throughout the afternoon.
