Inter Dominion Trotting Grand Final champion Maori Law will return to the races this Saturday night in Ballarat for the second leg of the lucrative Aurora Australis series.
The Emmett and Richard Brosnan-trained squaregaiter, who won the ID21 decider at Menangle during December, has drawn barrier 10 for the Group 2 E B Cochran Trotters Cup at Bray Raceway.
He will clash with Im Ready Jet (Anton Golino) and Majestic Man (Phil Williamson), who ran the quinella in the Group 1 Aldebaran Park Maori Mile at Bendigo on January 8. That race was the first in the series, which takes in this weekend’s clash as well as the TAB V.L. Dullard Trotters Cup (January 29), What The Hill Great Southern Star heats and Final (February 4), the Aldebaran Park Knight Pistol (February 12) and TAB Australian Trotting Grand Prix (February 26).
A $50,000 bonus will be won by connections of the trotter which accumulates the most points (1st: 8, 2nd: 5, 3rd: 3, 4th: 2, 5th: 1) throughout the eight-race series.
Group 1 winner Keayang Livana hasn’t raced since August last year, but will return from a break in the Cochran for trainer Margaret Lee, while Sundons Courage (Chris Angove), Powderkeg (Lisa Miles), Hopeful Beauty (Anton Golino), Lotamuscle (Matthew Craven) and Havehorsewilltravel (Andy Gath) are among the 12 starters in the $30,000 event.
The Group 1 PETstock Ballarat Pacing Cup is the highlight on Saturday night’s card, with the barrier draw for that race completed Monday night live at TrotsVision.com.au.
TAB opened its market for the Cup on Tuesday and superstar Lochinvar Art (David Moran) was quickly backed into a firm favourite for the $110,000 feature.
The Ballarat meeting, which includes heats of the new The Breakthrough Pace series for horses who have not won more than one race with advertised stakemoney of $30,000 or more, also opens the TAB Summer of Glory carnival.