Harness Racing Victoria form guru Craig Rail noticed some standout runners at recent trials.
At Geelong, Bettor Punter won in reasonable time after showing good gate speed and leading throughout.
Atua Magic was eye-catching at Cobram and Flying Sparks performed well at Bacchus March
COBRAM 12/02/26
Trial 1: – ATUA MAGIC NZ trailed the leader and came to the outside with 300m remaining. He finished off best to win softly, seemingly with plenty in reserve. Unfortunately, he is withdrawn from his assignment at Bendigo this evening. JILLIBY FABIO finished in second position after trying to lead throughout. He is competing at Wagga this afternoon. EYE WISH settled three back on the inside and never peeled to the outside at any stage. He finished in third and YOU GOTTA BELIEVE was last of the four for the duration and like his stable mate EYE WISH, never peeled to the outside at any stage and went to the line with plenty in reserve.
Mile Rate: – 1.58.7 Last Half: – 57.5 Margins: – 8m, 3m
BLACKBOOKER: – Atua Magic NZ
Trial 2: – AUSSIE JAY MAC NZ showed very good gate speed to lead shortly after the start. He ran along at a reasonable tempo and dominated his rivals to win by a large margin. He backed up to win nicely at Shepparton on Tuesday night and is racing again at Shepparton this week. IDEAL BANDIT was five back on the markers, came to the outside at the quarter pole and rolled into a distant second, without being fully extended. WICKED WIZARD settled three back on the markers and battled on fairly well for third. He is nicely drawn at Bendigo this evening. KUALIGHT settled last of the six runners and wanted to race fiercely throughout the middle stages. She was able to work into fourth position over the latter stages.
Mile Rate: – 2.0.8 Last Half: – 58.0 Margins: – 18m, head
KYABRAM 14/02/26
Trial 1: – UPRIGHT hasn’t raced since a disappointing tenth at Shepparton on December 02. He was able to win his trial over the former South Australian pacer CLARENDEN VICTORY, which recently joined trainer Corey Bell. FENG SHUI STAR hasn’t raced since a tiring twelfth at Bendigo in September. He finished last of the three runners.
Mile Rate: – 2.8.3 Last Half: – 59.7 Margins: – 2m, 10m
BACCHUS MARSH 14/02/26
Trial 1: – ATEGO DAWN has recently joined trainer Anthony Spiteri and produced a dominant performance to win the opening trial. She was able to defeat PLEASE LAYLA, which broke stride at the start at her latest attempt and was placed outside of the draw. She backed up with a third placed effort at Ballarat on Thursday night and is competing at Bendigo this evening so she has had a busy week. SHE DRIVES ME finished a distant third and finished well clear of MISS LITTLELEGS.
Mile Rate: – 2.8.6 Last Half: – 61.7 Margins: – 6m, 15m
Trial 2: – JUST ABIT DUSTY broke stride at the start and lost his chance last outing. His form prior was strong and he was able to bounce back with a comfortable trial victory. He should be very competitive at Cranbourne on Sunday night. JUMPING JONES is an unraced gelding by Majestic Son out of the talented mare Josephine Jones (2.0.6, $42,566). He finished in second position with WATCH THE BAY, another unraced son of Majestic Son, being the third horse across the line. The locally trained JUNGLE SPIDER was the fourth horse across the line.
Mile Rate: – 2.7.6 Last Half: – 60.8 Margins: – 5m, 6m
Trial 3: – FLYING SPARKS sustained a flat tyre and lost his chance at Ballarat on February 05. He indicated a win was near with two handy placed performances prior and he was able to build some more confidence with a nice trial success in handy time. He is one of the leading chances at Bendigo this evening. CARUSO STAR continues to race consistently and was able to finish in second position. WORTH THE EXTRA won impressively at his debut performance then raced very greenly and did things wrong when unplaced at his next attempt. He was the third horse across the line with AMERICAN MICHI, a winner on debut on January 30, being the fourth horse across the line. Both WORTH THE EXTRA and AMERICAN MICHI are competing at Cranbourne on Sunday.
Mile Rate: – 2.1.3 Last Half: – 58.0 Margins: – 4m, 2.5m
BLACKBOOKER: – Flying Sparks
Trial 5: – REBEL BY THE SEA is a lightly raced filly, which has been unplaced in two starts to date and hasn’t been to the races since December 04. She is nicely bred and might have benefited from a break as she recorded reasonable time in her trial success. She is competing at Shepparton on Tuesday night. ARZALI ROCKSTAR is an unraced filly by Yankee Rockstar out of Sheluvsme (1.57.8, $26,247), whose first foal is the speedy performer Carramar Olam (1.53.8, $59,756). She finished second ahead of ONLY ONE DON, which has only had one start since February 2025. BACKBEACH PETER has also recently returned from a long spell and was the fourth horse across the line. The second placed ARZALI ROCKSTAR will be making her debut at Cranbourne on Sunday.
Mile Rate: – 2.3.4 Last Half: – 59.5 Margins: – 2m, 4m
Trial 6: – ALDEBARAN SUSANNE won the open class trotting event. She has won three races recently and was also runner up in the Bacchus Marsh Trotting Cup. She broke at the start at her latest sixth and was placed on the outside of the draw. She is competing at Bendigo this evening. PROHIBITED GRACE won the Breeders Crown in 2024. She has been freshened up since her latest unplaced effort in the 2025 Breeders Crown on December 13 and she finished a close up second in handy time in her trial performance. She is resuming at Cranbourne on Sunday night. AHUNDREDPLUS is a former Queensland trotter, which has joined trainer Denis Grieve. He finished last of the trio but he had the lowest National Rating of each of the three runners. He is making his local debut at Bendigo this evening.
Mile Rate: – 2.2.1 Last Half: – 59.8 Margins: – 1.5m, 6m
MARYBOROUGH 15/02/26
Trial 1: – BONAVISTA BOY settled three back on the markers, moved to the outside at the 600m and sustained a strong run to get the prize. The tough trotting mare TIKTOK trailed the leader throughout and tried hard over the concluding stages to finish in second. BELLA LOMBO was four back on the markers, moved into the one out and one back trail behind BONAVISTA BAY in the back straight and battled on fairly well for third. The early leader BLAZING SHANNON was the fourth horse across the line.
Mile Rate: – 1.59.2 Last Half: – 58.7 Margins: – 1m, 4m
Trial 3: – RENNIE TIN TIN was without cover early, restrained to be four back on the markers and moved up without cover again at the 700m mark. He battled on strongly over the latter stages and proved to be too good for his rivals. DYGANALI settled three back on the markers, switched to the sprint lane and finished off quickly for second. REEKO REACTOR trailed the leader, came to outside at the 500m and quickly hit the lead before the quarter pole. He finished in third with the early leader SIXTO being last of the quartet across the line.
Mile Rate: – 1.59.8 Last Half: – 58.1 Margins: – 2m, 3m
Trial 4: – TWO STEP PROPOSAL is an unraced juvenile gelding by Dancin Lou out of The Blushing Bride, which has produced My Bucks Night (1.58.7, $24,956). He trailed the leader and came to the outside on the home turn before finishing off best to get the prize. ZEALYN finished off well for second after settling last of the four runners and moving into the one out and one back trail at the bell. The early leader MY MAJOR was the third horse across the line.
Mile Rate: – 2.7.1 Last Half: – 60.0 Margins: – Head, 2m
Trial 5: – CENTURION DREAM was clearly the class runner of the trial and was able to dominate her rivals to score by a large margin after leading throughout. She is backing up at Cranbourne on Sunday night. BRUISER ALM began quickly to trail the leader and battled on fairly well for a distant second. EMILY MEAGAN settled four back on the markers and moved to the outside on the home turn. She battled on okay in the home straight and was the third horse across the line.
Mile Rate: – 2.5.8 Last Half: – 59.1 Margins: – 25m, 1m
Trial 8: – ELEGANT SPIRIT took out the trial for the juvenile trotters. She is by Perfect Spirit, a 1.51.4 son of Andover Hall, which earned 1.2 million dollars in Stakes. The dam Kyvalley Princess is an unraced mare by Love You and Elegant Spirit is the first foal. She was able to lead throughout and scored comfortably. LUCKY AVENUE trailed the leader throughout and finished in second. He is by Centurion ATM out of Sunny Avenue, which only had one start in her career and yielded a fourth in the Abrahams Trotters Classic. She has produced the two winners Majestic Avenue (2.4.0) and Sunny Majesty (2.7.1). REGAL GALA finished in third after missing away and failing to recover. He is by Pastor Stephen out of the handy mare Hush Your Majesty (1.59.1, $61,720), which has produced the winners Daley Waters (2.1.8) and Aldebaranharlequin (2.2.0).
Mile Rate: – 2.11.9 Last Half: – 62.3 Margins: – 2m, 15m
GEELONG 16/02/26
Trial 1: – WHISKEYDRINKINGBILL trailed the leader throughout and waited for the sprint lane. He finished off best to snare victory by a narrow margin and will be competing at Cranbourne on Sunday night. DOUGS TRIBE attempted to lead throughout and was the second horse across the line. He should go well at Hamilton on Monday afternoon. HILTONS SPIRIT settled three back on the inside, raced roughly at the 800m and came to the outside at the 600m. He was last of the three runners for the duration.
Mile Rate: – 2.1.3 Last Half: – 58.5 Margins: – 1/2 head, 6m
Trial 3: – BETTOR PUNTER NZ galloped away when on debut and was placed outside of the draw. His trial form prior was strong and he bounced back to win his trial at Geelong in reasonable time after showing good gate speed and leading throughout. JACWILL KID finished in second after being slow to begin and settling down last of the three runners. He chased hard over the latter stages and finished within a length of the winner. KIANA finished third after trailing the leader throughout.
Mile Rate: – 1.58.5 Last Half: – 58.7 Margins: – 3m, 30m
BLACKBOOKER: – Bettor Punter NZ
MILDURA 18/02/26
Trial 1: – MY ULTIMATE JIMMY NZ has been freshened since his latest unplaced effort in the Breeders Crown Final on December 13. He has shown terrific talent in his career to date and was runner up in the South Australian Derby during his last campaign. He won the opening trial by a large margin over GO AWAY AGAIN, which hasn’t started since an unplaced effort at Mildura in September. NOBLE TRICK and POWERSOFPERSUASION finished third and fourth respectively in a strong trial to commence the program.
Mile Rate: – 2.0.8 Last Half: – 57.2 Margins: – 14.5m, 5m
Trial 2: – THOMAS HEIGHTS has been unplaced at his past three Mildura appearances but was runner up against handy grade on December 10. He was able to gain some confidence with a trial victory over IM BLINGIN IT, which hasn’t started since an unplaced effort at Globe Derby in October. LOSEASHOE hasn’t started since January 2025 and finished a distant third ahead of SHES POPPY.
Mile Rate: – 2.0.1 Last Half: – 58.4 Margins: – 1.5m, 24m
Trial 3: – CALF PEN NZ broke stride and was stood down to trial at Mildura on February 11. He was able to re-qualify with a convincing trial success over ROCKNROLL LENNY, which finished second at his latest Mildura race track appearance back on December 26. ITSALLGEE was stood down to trial at his Mildura debut and finished a distant third ahead of TESSY BOO.
Mile Rate: – 2.3.9 Last Half: – 60.1 Margins: – 12m, 29m
