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Fresh from a record-breaking first-up win in the Geelong Rocket, Cardigan trainer Emma Stewart will wheel out her highly-promising four-year-old Mach Dan once again this weekend.
The son of Mach Three, who set a new low mile rate of 1:53.6min over the 1609m at Geelong on February 26, has been accepted for the TAB Long May We Play Pace at Tabcorp Park Melton on Saturday night.
The win late last month was a promising return to the track for the gelding, who had not raced since a fourth placing in the Group 1 Breeders Crown Series 3YO Colts and Geldings Final during November behind Zeuss Bromac.
Greg Sugars has again been booked to team up with Mach Dan, who holds a career record of 10 wins from 20 starts for more than $200,000 in prizemoney. This is highlighted by his win in last October’s NSWBC 3YO Colts and Geldings Final at Menangle.
The horse has drawn barrier six and has a field of eight rivals in Saturday’s $20,000 NR 85 to 99 event over 2240m. Those combatants include the Brent Lilley-trained Wangaratta Cup winner from Sunday I Cast No Shadow, Alpine Stride (Anthony Butt and Sonya Smith), Idealsomemagic (AJ and BJ Tindale) and Bulletproof Boy (Scott Ewen).
Among the races on Saturday night is the Hero Claiming Pace for horses on sale between $10,000 and $50,000.
Kima Frenning’s Yorkshire, who won the Mercury80 final at his most recent start, is the top-priced pacer at $48,000.
Nine events have been scheduled for Tabcorp Park Melton on Saturday night, with the $10,000 DNR Logistics Trot to kick off the card at 5.47pm.
Mach Dan had also been among the nominations for Sunday’s Charlton and District Community Bank Charlton Pacing Cup.
A strong group of horses look like heading to the $35,000 race, with acceptances for it and the rest of the card to be declared on Wednesday.
The other key feature of the day is the $25,000 North West Ag Services Charlton Trotters Cup, where Kate Hargreaves’ gun Well Defined is set to chase a fifth-straight country feature.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL FIELDS FOR SATURDAY NIGHT’S MELTON MEETING
