Trots Centre: Wolf readies for season-defining strides tonight

Wolf Stride will continue his charge towards summer’s big features at Tabcorp Park Melton this evening.

Anthony Butt’s star pacer had his colours lowered in the Sokyola Sprint at Ballarat on Boxing Day, but the quick back-up is expected to suit the five-year-old in tonight’s APG – The Industry’s Not For Profit Sales Company Pace (2240m).

Butt’s charge was only able to manage third behind Somewhere Secret seven days ago when the leader stole a cheap second quarter and then sprinted too quickly for the $1.20 favourite.

He will again start a warm punter’s pick, despite drawing poorly in barrier seven against a quality field in tonight’s fast class event.

“He’s got good gate speed if I need to use it. Hopefully it’s a bit more truly run race this week than last week,” Butt said.

“He’s pretty adaptable so we’ll just play it by ear.

“He seems good. It was just a bit of an awkward race (at Ballarat). He drew bad, it was a small field and he never really had a chance. In saying that, I thought he might have gone a fraction better but he was coming off a break and he does seem a horse that gets better with racing.

“His work has been good this week so I expect him to go a bit better.”

Butt has eyes on the Bendigo Pacing Cup on January 9 as the horse’s next big assignment and hopes that race will tell him where to head with the son of Rock N Roll Heaven.

“If he goes good this week I hope to go to Bendigo next week with him and then I’ll just work it out after that,” he said.

“He’ll tell me if he’s good enough for the Hunter Cup or not. We probably won’t go to Shepparton (Cup, January 16) because that will be four in-a-row and then I’ll weigh-up whether to go to Ballarat (Cup) or wait a week. Definitely Bendigo and then more than likely Ballarat.”

Wolf Stride is already a Group 1 winner – having taken out the Metropolitan Region Championships Final at Menangle in May – but stepping up to the Grand Circuit is another thing. However, Butt is confident the horse will acquit himself well in feature races in the coming weeks.

“I’m hoping. He’s got to prove it to us, but he’s done a good job so far,” he said.

“He’s sort of got to the stage that I thought he would, but from there on there’s no place to hide. He’ll tell us, but I’m sure he’ll be competitive in them. Winning them is another thing.”

Tonight’s APG – The Industry’s Not For Profit Sales Company Pace is one of the highlights on a nine-race card at Tabcorp Park Melton, with the first to get underway from 6.28pm.

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