Just a tick under two months before the first round of Inter Dominion heats the great Australasian series is shaping stable plans, including for Michael Stanley’s hopes Menin Gate and Sky Petite.
Both will continue to advance at their new home this weekend, Stanley said when he joined Jason Bonnington and Blake Redden on RSN 927’s Gait Speed this week.
Previously trained by Dean Pattison, Sky Petite will debut for Stanley in Saturday night’s Maori Miss Trotters Free For All, the mare returning from a spell as is well fancied Red Hot Tooth for Kari Males.
“As we know (Sky Petite) ran third in the Great Southern Star last year,” Stanley said. “Her work here’s been really impressive, she’s had two good trials. I’m really excited to see what she does on Saturday night.
“She’s not that far off the mark. She trialled on Sunday and we just sat in and followed some high-class pacers like Brallos Pass and Perspective and they ran home in 56.
“She done that on the bit, she’s ready to go Saturday. I’m sure she’s toughened up a little bit with our training. They will know she is racing on Saturday. Of course she will benefit from the hit-out, but in saying that we are expecting a really good run from her.”
She was among 88 nominations released on Monday for the TAB Inter Dominion Trotting Championship, while stablemate Menin Gate – another recent addition to the Stanley clan – featured among the 104 nominations for the TAB Inter Dominion Pacing Championship.
“(Menin Gate) will trial this weekend,” Stanley told Gait Speed. “He’s not that far off. It’s definitely not a nomination (just) to throw him in the mix. If everything goes to plan and he holds up and can get back to his best form, he will be ready to go by the Inter Dominion.
“He’s got plenty of time up his sleeve. Obviously he’s had 12 months off the scene, he had a slight crack to his pelvis, which they found late in his preparation (and was) why his last few runs weren’t up to his standard.
“We’ve had him for a couple of months now and just done a nice, long, slow preparation. Obviously he’ll need a few trials having so long off the scene, but as you know we are only at the start of October and the Inter Dominion is mid-December, so times in on our side.”
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