Harness Racing Victoria form guru Craig Rail noticed some standout runners at recent trials.
At Cobram, Atua Magic sustained a long run to win the trial nicely. He is a smart horse and is competing at Wagga on Friday afternoon.
At Cranbourne, unraced filly Gatesys Delight came to the outside approaching the home turn and did not corner too well, but balanced up nicely and was able to get the job done, seemingly with plenty in reserve.
At Maryborough, Catch A Wave and Yambukian’s sister Catch A Butterfly were able to defeat the older trotters by a narrow margin.
COBRAM 30/07/26
Trial 1: – ATUA MAGIC settled last of the four runners, moved up without cover at the 800m and sustained a long run to win the trial nicely. He is a smart horse and is competing at Wagga this afternoon. ELATED trailed the leader, used the sprint lane and finished off reasonably well for second. He backed up with a victory at Shepparton on Tuesday night. CROCODILE SOCKS finished in third position after attempting to lead throughout. The trotter PASTOR DUNBAR finished last of the four runners but it was a good performance as he settled third on the markers, moved onto the back of ATUA MAGIC in the back straight and never peeled to the outside at any stage. He is resuming at Melton on Saturday night and is likely to be strongly fancied.
Mile Rate: – Unavailable Last Half: – 57.0 Margins: – 1m, 1m
BLACKBOOKER: – Atua Magic
Trial 2: – DALLASCOWBOY settled four back on the markers, moved into the one out and one back trail in the back straight and came out three horses wide from the 300m. He sprinted sharply and finished off fast to win by a good margin. He is competing at Wagga this afternoon. KONSTAS finished second after settling three back on the markers and moving into the death seat at the 700m mark. She was well beaten by DALLASCOWBOY but she beat the remainder of the field by a long way. BERYLS BOOTS trailed the leader and was under pressure from the 900m before grinding away for third position. He will have a busy week as he backed up with a fourth placed effort at Kilmore on Thursday night and is also scheduled to compete at Shepparton on Tuesday night. AXIS ANGEL finished fourth after setting the speed and CELTIC MAC was the last horse across the line after galloping several times in the run.
Mile Rate: – Unavailable Last Half: – 58.0 Margins: – 12m, 12m
CRANBOURNE 02/08/26
Trial 1: – GATESYS DELIGHT is an unraced filly by Elite Stride out of Gatesys Alley (1.59.5, $82,867) and is the first foal out of the dam. She trailed the leader, came to the outside approaching the home turn and didn’t corner too well but balanced up nicely and was able to get the job done, seemingly with plenty in reserve. JINXED is a 3yo filly by Skyvalley NZ and finished in third after setting the speed. STREAK ON BY was slow to begin and was detached in the early stages. He was last of the trio throughout.
Mile Rate: – 2.12.5 Last Half: – 63.7 Margins: – 3m, 26m
BLACKBOOKER: – Gatesys Delight
Trial 2: – SOLS ME NAME was the class runner of the trial and was able to get the job done. He was out of position at the start but worked through to trail the leader in the early stages. He worked around to find the lead at the 1100m and was able to win untouched. NOTHANOTHA NAUGHTY led out then took cover at the 1100m before moving away from the inside at the 300m. He hasn’t raced since a fourth in the New South Wales Trotters Derby in May. PEE DEE broke stride at the start and was last of the three runners throughout.
Mile Rate: – 2.1.2 Last Half: – 58.0 Margins: – 1.5m, 50m
MARYBOROUGH 03/08/26
Trial 3: – KELROSE CULLEN was able to back up his Maryborough trial victory a week earlier with another success over THE BLACK MAMBA so he is showing promise. THE BLACK MAMBA is a 2yo colt by Tall Dark Stranger out of Anahita (1.56.0, $15,280) and is the first foal out of the mare. He finished in second and was comfortably clear of the third placed ULTIMATE GRANGE. ULTIMATE GRANGE was having his first trial for trainer Ross Graham and finished just ahead of QUEEN BOULEVARD.
Mile Rate: – 2.0.7 Last Half: – 58.6 Margins: – 3m, 3.5m
Trial 4: – CATCH A BUTTERFLY is an unraced filly by Captaintreacherous out of Coppagoodone NZ (1.57.0, $13,423), making her a sister to the Group 1 winning pacer Catch A Wave (1.48.8, $2,295,410) and a half sister to Bettor Copagoodone (1.54.5, $103,651) and Yambukian (1.50.9, $302,959). She was able to defeat the older trotters by a narrow margin. AVANT GUARD hasn’t raced since dragging a flat tyre and being unplaced in mid-June. He was beaten by a narrow margin with ZARSKI being a close up third in a blanket finish. ZARSKI hasn’t started since being unplaced in the Breeders Crown Final in December. HEZ NOTTHE MESSIAH and IJUSTCANTSEEIT finished fourth and fifth respectively and the Group 1 winning trotter MECARNO was the sixth horse across the line in a strong line up.
Mile Rate: – 2.3.2 Last Half: – 58.5 Margins: – ½ neck, 1m
BLACKBOOKER: – Catch A Butterfly
MILDURA 03/08/26
Trial 1: – KEAYANG MOROCCAN was able to lead throughout in the opening trial on the program. He set up an even tempo and was able to win by a comfortable margin. The trotter CONNIES PRESIDENT NZ sat in the trail throughout and held his own in the run to the judge to finish in second. NAUGHTY VILLE was last of the three runners throughout and is backing up at Mildura this afternoon.
Mile Rate: – 2.1.6 Last Half: – Unavailable Margins: – 4m, 30m
Trial 2: – INDIANAS SON began swiftly from the outside of the front line and was able to find the lead. He was able to dominate his rivals in the run to the judge and scored by a large margin. ULTIMATE ADVICE was slow out and settled last of the four runners, racing greenly around the first turn. He was able to work into second place over the concluding stages. LILBITAJAYTEE trailed the leader throughout and finished a distant third. He will be competing at Mildura this afternoon. MISS BALBOA was three back on the markers in the early stages and lost ground, finishing a distant last of the quartet.
Mile Rate: – 2.4.2 Last Half: – Unavailable Margins: – 35m, 9m
MELTON ENTERTAINMENT PARK 04/08/26
Trial 2: – INSULATOR showed a lot of ability during his first campaign of racing but made several errors. He was able to lead throughout and win his trial impressively. ORLANDO VEYRON trailed the leader early, came to the outside at the 300m and tried hard but couldn’t get past INSULATOR in the run to the judge. BROTHER THOMAS was slow out and settled a distant third on the markers. He couldn’t catch the leading pair but finished in third position ahead of KYVALLEY DIABLO, which broke stride on the first turn.
Mile Rate: – 2.0.1 Last Half: – 59.9 Margins: – 5m, 50m
Trial 4: – DECODE settled four back on the markers, moved off the inside at the 400m and sustained a good run to win easily. He is competing at Shepparton on Tuesday night. BINALONG MATE trailed the leader, came to the outside at the 300m and finished a distant second. ARDEN SEASCAPE NZ was without cover early and restrained to be last of the seven runners around the first turn. He was giving the leader a big start, weaved a passage in the final 400m and finished off fast for an eye-catching third. WOTDIDUSAAAY burst across the face of the field to lead from the outside of the front line. He set up a genuine tempo and was run down at the end, finishing in fourth. He is backing up at Melton this evening. GIVE DAVE A WAVE settled six back on the markers and worked into fifth position. He is also competing at Melton tonight.
Mile Rate: – 1.58.7 Last Half: – 59.0 Margins: – 8m, 10m
BLACKBOOKER: – Deecode
Trial 5: – KINGS GALLERY has been runner up in all of his four starts to date and appears to have a promising future. He hasn’t raced since May but he was able to lead throughout in his effortless trial victory. RAVISHING ROXY settled three back on the markers and worked into second with EZEE FORTITUDE (trailed leader) being last of the trio across the line. EZEE FORTITUDE was the only horse in the trial that hadn’t raced previously. She is by Stay Hungry out of Ezee Duzit Lombo (1.57.5, $70,816), which has produced five winners including Sanday (1.49.6, $324,095) and Highlandhartbreaka (1.54.2).
Mile Rate: – 2.2.0 Last Half: – 58.4 Margins: – 4m, 3m
Trial 6: – SMOKEN HEAVEN began smartly but broke stride shortly after the start and was stood down to trial at Cranbourne on Sunday. He was able to re-qualify with an all of the way victory over MILEY KAY, which sat in the trail throughout and came to the outside on the home turn. LADY FLASHEART was without cover early and angled onto the markers to be three back shortly after the start. She finished in third and was nicely clear of POSTMAN JOEY (4 back markers) and PHILS BOY (5 back markers) at the finish.
Mile Rate: – 1.59.6 Last Half: – 56.9 Margins: – 4m, 2m
Trial 7: – BREAK MY ART continued her very good trial form with another easy success. She began smartly from a wide draw to find the lead, went quickly down the back straight on the final occasion and scored by a large margin. GUARANTEED TROUBLE finished in second after trailing the leader throughout. BRONSKI ROYAL settled five back on the markers, moved into the death seat at the 900m and battled on fairly for a distant third. KING BALDWIN settled six back on the markers, moved into the one out and one back trail at the 900m and broke momentarily at the 300m but recovered to finish in fourth.
Mile Rate: – 2.0.8 Last Half: – 57.4 Margins: – 15m, 12m
Trial 9: – MASTER LOUEY was five back on the markers for the majority of the trial, moved into the one out and one back trail at the 700m mark and ran home well through the middle late to grab victory on the line. SWEET FLORABEL began quickly to find the lead, backed off the tempo mid-race and was run down in the last few strides, finishing a close up second. SWEETSUGARCANDYMAN raced without cover early, restrained to be four back on the markers at the 1600m and moved up without cover again at the 900m. He battled on well over the latter stages to finish a close up third. BEAU BECA was six back on the markers, moved into running lane at the 700m (1-2) and finished in fourth.
Mile Rate: – 2.2.9 Last Half: – 58.5 Margins: – Neck, Neck
