In-form NSW trainer Brad Hewitt is planning a twin-pronged raid with his two stable stars on Victoria’s revamped Summer of Glory.
And it starts from the first of the six meetings at Bendigo on January 10.
Hewitt said his former Inter Dominion-winning trotter The Locomotive and flying open-class pacer Captains Knock would tackle the two features at Bendigo.
The Locomotive, who returned from a lengthy spell with a Menangle win last Saturday week, looks set to clash with brilliant young mare Keayang Zahara for the first time in the $100,000 Group 1 Maori Mile.
While Captains Knock’s will target the $75,000 Group 2 Bendigo Cup, meaning a probable showdown with recent Victoria and NZ Cup winner Kingman.
Captains Knock has been a competitive player on the Grand Circuit for the past year, but gone to a new level with five successive wins.
Two of those have been in the first two legs of the NSW Carnival of Cups which carries a potential $1 million bonus should he win all five legs.
The latest of them was an effortless win in the Steel City Cup at Newcastle last Friday night.
“There’s a gap now until the third leg and this horse thrives on racing, so it fits well to take in a race or two in Melbourne next month,” Hewitt said.
“He’s really in the zone at the moment and he’ so versatile with his speed and strength.”
The third leg is the $60,000 Gold Rush Cup at Bathurst on January 30.
“Unfortunately, the fourth leg is at Albury on February 13, which is the night before the Hunter Cup, so we can’t do both,” Hewitt said.
“But Bendigo makes sense and even Shepparton the week after is an option, too.
“The Locomotive will be going down for a few of the trotting races. Our main target is the Great Southern Star (February 14), but we’ll take in a few of the lead-up races down there,” Hewitt said.
The Locomotive brilliantly won his Great Southern Star heat earlier this year before finishing second to upset winner Watts Up Partytime in the final.
Trainer Marg Lee confirmed the Maori Mile was the next major target for Keayang Zahara after she snared her 10th Group 1 win from just 21 starts in last Saturday night’s $150,000 Great Square at Albion Park.
But her brilliant stablemate Jilliby Ballerini is unlikely to be ready.
“She had a bit of a bug after the last NZ run which may be why she didn’t go as well as hoped,” she said. “We’re given her some extra time to get over there, so if she runs in any of those Victorian races, it would only be the later ones.”
Hewitt conceded clashing with Keayang Zahara would be a new challenge for The Locomotive.
“It’s fair to say the bar has been raised since he won that Inter Dominion this time last year, especially with the emergence of Keayang Zahara,” he said.
PHOTOS: HRNSW/Brett Atkins
