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Jason Bonnington and Tim O’Connor wax lyrical ahead of Saturday night’s Vicbred Super Series Group 1 extravaganza…
Tim O’Connor: Geez mate, as a long-suffering Bombers supporter it’s bloody good to be excited by a finals series in September again. And no, I’m not talking about the footy.
Jason Bonnington: Sad story, bro. Wish I could empathize, but my Pies are being served HOT right now and they were even kind enough to win last weekend and clear the decks so I could fully focus on these succulent Super Series finals. I love Vicbred night, it’s one for the purists.
TOC: Yeah, it truly is. While on the footy theme, this bloke called Petracca goes around in the three-year-old colts and geldings’ final. A bit like his namesake, he looks to be something special. The horse’s heat and semi-final victories have been explosive and he shapes as one of the locks of the night for his champion trainer Emma Stewart. Agree?
Bon: How could you not? As you know mate, I’m not the biggest fan of miracle multis but I nailed a five-leg heist last weekend and I’m aiming to repeat the dose tonight. Petracca is one of the five. Any chance of you jagging the other four?
TOC: I did see that. Well played. Hopefully you’ve still got some of the riches left.
Emma has Stormryder and Amore Vita that should be winning their respective Group 1 finals at short quotes, so I’m confident you’ll include those. But who else? Hmmm… The Locomotive and Rockinwithattitude in the three-year-old trots?
Bon: I see you’ve been stalking me again. I thought we spoke about that and came to an agreement? In all seriousness, well done. You’ve nailed the big five perfectly. There are favourites I want to take on however, mostly in the trotting finals. I reckon you can expect the unexpected in several of those features. You with me?
TOC: Yep. To a degree at least. Not sure I want to be siding with Lady Adelia as favourite or even Revelstoke as second elect in the four-year-old mares’ trot, but who wins? Not sure. Perhaps Aldebaran Vera. She was great in the heats, as was Queen Of Quebec. I can’t tip against Arcee Phoenix and like We Can Have It All from the pole. In the pacing features, and even though the big price is gone, Solesseo Matuca looks to me as one of the better plays at odds. Gee Andy Gath is some trainer.
Bon: With you on Aldebaran Vera, though that four-year-old trotting mares’ final is the toughest race all night. I’ll tell you what I reckon the pick of the litter from these dozen Group 1s is. It’s the three-year-old fillies’ pacing final and I reckon I’ve found one at $151. You know me TOC, I’m not one of those tipsters that live their life throwing out roughies and tilting at windmills, but if they keep rolling all the way in that decider then Vee Em Gee Macray can legit win. And she can definitely run a place at $16. You’re dead right about AP Gath being a freak mentor, but Jess Tubbs and Greg Sugars are pretty handy themselves and Vicbred night means everything to Jess given her dad’s great glories in this series.
TOC: Oh, you’ve opened an old wound. I was on Vee Em Gee Macray a place as one of the best wagers of the night during the heats and she got awfully buried away on the pegs there. Of course, she flashed late for fourth. Will clearly need the speed on, but I don’t mind your thoughts there. She’s going well. For the record, I’m with Sahara Breeze in that race, but it would be great to see Joyful go back-to-back and win a second-straight Vicbred final. And while two’s good, three’s better. What a feat if Amore Vita can complete the clean sweep!
Bon: The burning question, my old mate, is not whether Amore Vita will record an extraordinary Vicbred treble, but whether she’s as good, or better, than her Eureka-winning contemporary, Encipher. The girls have been dominating the gallops for years, but we may be verging on a similar revolution in the trots. If you could only own one, from here on in, who would it be? Amore or Encipher?
TOC: Ooofft. That’s tough. Really tough. I’ll take Amore Vita and don’t ask me why. I have no idea. They’re two great mares and I’m sure they’ll be in the thick of Grand Circuit conversations for years to come. Righto, my turn for a BQ. Our mate Aaron Dunn won a Vicbred final with Bondi Lockdown a couple of years ago and has Eyethink as a warm favourite to claim another. Which horse do you want in your barn right now – Bondi or Eyethink?
Bon: Geez Louise, you’ve returned fire with venom there, mate. Here’s the issue. I feel like I “found” Eyethink very early on and there’s a bond that forms when that happens. There’s no doubt Eyethink is every bit as good as I thought he was and still on an upward trajectory, but Bondi is Bondi so he still, begrudgingly, gets the nod. Dunny is one of the game’s most lovable characters so I’m hoping Eyethink salutes. We’ve covered more ground than the early settlers here, bro. Only one question remains… Draw A Dream or Renewal?
TOC: I was potting Renewal last week, but she showed me. Both were so impressive, however I’ll lean towards Draw A Dream, who was perhaps a bit more dominant. You?
Bon: Draw A Dream by a reasonable margin. She looked freakish last weekend. Like something truly special. I just can’t wait for the whole the whole shebang, TOC. You might not have the Bombers to look forward to this September, but I reckon this is a fair old replacement hey?
