Craig Rail thinks Titan Stride should perform well when he runs at Maryborough on Sunday based off his impressive trial victory last weekend.
The form guru made the Mark Hayes-trained trotter the sole black-booker from the Victorian trials circuit this week.
You can read his full analysis below.
BACCHUS MARSH 27/12/25
Trial 1: – PRINCESS ARNA finished second in a smart mile of 1.56.6 when she was making her debut for trainer Nick Edwards. She recorded reasonable time in a comfortable trial victory to open proceedings so she is in good form. SIR CANDY CLOUD is a former New South Wales pacer, which struck trouble and was stood down to trial at his latest attempt. He has joined trainer Malcolm Bull and finished in second position just ahead of CALEDONIAN TERRA. CALEDONIAN TERRA backed up at Mount Gambier on Tuesday night and worked to the line fairly well for third. BLISSFULL LILLY was last of the four runners across the line. SIR CANDY CLOUD and BLISSFULL LILLY are both competing at Melton on Friday night.
Mile Rate: – 2.0.0 Last Half: – 59.4 Margins: – 6m, 1/2head
Trial 2: – JUST ABIT DUSTY has joined trainer Alison Alford since galloping away and finishing unplaced at Melton in September. He has won two trials recently with the latest being at Bacchus Marsh on Saturday and he backed up with an unplaced effort at Melton on New Years Eve. He defeated JUNGLE SPIDER, which was placed three starts ago at Maryborough on November 17 and returns to that track at Maryborough on Sunday. APRIL SUN hasn’t raced since a fourth at Kilmore in August but is resuming at Melton on Friday. He finished in third with WATTS UP RAPTOR finishing a distant last of the quartet.
Mile Rate: – 2.5.3 Last Half: – 59.9 Margins: – 5m, 2m
Trial 3: – LIVELY RASCAL hasn’t raced since a sixth at Kilmore in July and will be resuming at Melton on Friday night. He recorded handy time in a convincing trial victory over COOPER CLEAVER, which hasn’t raced since May. IDEAL CRAZY is an unraced mare by A Rocknroll Dance, which is prepared by trainer Terry Sinclair. She was the third horse across the line and was ahead of another unraced performer in ALWAYS ON SONG (Always B Miki).
Mile Rate: – 1.59.7 Last Half: – 59.6 Margins: – 8m, 70m
Trial 4: – GIVE FRED A CLAP broke stride in the Homegrown Classic at his latest attempt and lost his chance. He quickly bounced back with a win in handy time over HURRICANE HOOLY, which has been unplaced in five starts since a second at Geelong. VILLAVOS is a nicely bred filly being by Ride High out of Village Glow for trainer Alison Alford. She finished in third ahead of NEED ME SOME SUGAR and CALEDONIAN ROCKY was the last horse across the line. GIVE FRED A CLAP and VILLAVOS are both racing at Melton on Friday night and NEED ME SOME SUGAR is scheduled to compete at Maryborough on Sunday.
Mile Rate: – 1.59.8 Last Half: – 59.1 Margins: – 6m, 10m
Trial 5: – KICKABARREL hasn’t raced since a fifth back in May but he showed ability in three starts during his initial campaign. He won the trial over MOONLIGHT BILLY, which is an unraced juvenile gelding by What The Hill out of A Pretty Penny. SKYTE has had one run since a long spell and was last of the trio across the line. The winner KICKABARREL is resuming from a break at Melton on Friday night.
Mile Rate: – 2.5.6 Last Half: – 61.0 Margins: – 8m, 15m
Trial 6: – OOH AH LISTAH ran a better race when a handy finishing third at Geelong. He backed that up with a win in slick time at the trials so he is obviously working back to his peak form and might run a bit of a race at Melton on Friday night. SKIPPYS DELIGHT NZ has raced in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia since coming from New Zealand. He finished less than a length from the winner so his effort was sound and he is also competing at Melton on Friday. GIVE DAVE A WAVE finished in third position and was nominated for Echuca on the first day of the new season. HITTHEROADJACK NZ, which has been freshened since his latest effort in early October, was last of the quartet across the line and resumes at Cranbourne on Saturday night.
Mile Rate: – 1.56.5 Last Half: – 57.9 Margins: – 2.5m, 2m
Trial 7: – SCAR has broken stride at his past three race track appearances but he has enjoyed a very good season having won six races. He won the trial over NUCLEAR ATTITUDE, which finished in fifth position at his latest race track effort. EMMWALLEN was the third horse across the line and MEGA SPUR was a tailed off last. Both SCAR and NUCLEAR ATTITUDE are competing at Maryborough on Sunday.
Mile Rate: – 2.7.8 Last Half: – 59.5 Margins: – 8m, Head
MARYBOROUGH 28/12/25
Trial 2: – MAJOR ROY began quickly and was able to slide to the lead shortly after the start. He took cover at the bell, came to the outside at the 300m mark and finished off best to get the prize. NEED ME SOME SUGAR raced without cover in the early stages, pushed forward in what appeared to be a slow tempo and found the front at the bell. She was run down in the latter stages and was beaten by approximately a length. She was backing up quickly from her Bacchus Marsh trial effort the day before and will be competing at Maryborough on Sunday so she has had a busy week. FAST TALKIN PATTY trailed the leader early, ended up being three back on the markers and lost some ground over the concluding stages to finish in a distant third.
Mile Rate: – Unavailable Last Half: – Unavailable Margins: – 3m, 18m (approximately)
Trial 3: – TITAN STRIDE has been performing well at the Maryborough trials for some time and continued the trend with a dominant victory, where he led throughout after running through his first half in 63.1 seconds. He is racing at Maryborough on Sunday and should go well. AI SEDAI trailed the leader throughout and finished in second position. He was beaten by a comfortable margin but was a long way clear of the remainder of the field. KISSMESERENA broke stride at the start, chased hard to tack onto the group at the 1400m and settled four back on the markers. He finished in a distant third. MY HIGH PEAK was three back on the markers and broke stride on the home turn thus finished in a distant fourth. SWEET MAORI MISS was third on the first corner but broke stride shortly afterwards and was tailed off for the remainder of the journey.
Mile Rate: – Unavailable Last Half: – Unavailable Margins: – 25m, 60m
BLACKBOOKER: – Titan Stride
