Lee lands with Ignite in the hope of lighting up Terang

Saturday night’s Morsbearings Terang Trotters Cup shapes up as an intriguing affair with three combatants from the Great Southern Star coming together.

Third placegetter Keayang Chucky ($2.80) is on the second line of betting behind joint $2.70 favorites Hesallmuscle and Keayang Ignite.

Jason Lee has opted to drive the lightly-raced Keayang Ignite, who galloped in his heat and failed to qualify for the Great Southern Star Final.

“Keayang Ignite was probably going to run second to Callmethebreeze in the heat, but he got a bit rocky when we went back down to the pegs at the top of the straight and ended up breaking,” Lee said.

“He didn’t help himself by getting stirred up by the big crowd, and he started to get on himself and play up out on the track.”

Lee concedes little separates the two Paddy Lee-trained runners.

“I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for Ignite so I’ve gone his way, but Chucky is every bit as good a chance and he has trained on in his work since the Great Southern Star,” he said.

Matt Craven muses at the lofty expectations of bookmakers who installed Fides as the original favourite in Saturday night’s Terang Co-Op Terang Pacing Cup.

The lightly-raced eight-year-old is unbeaten in two starts back from a 12-month lay-off and couldn’t have been more impressive unleashing a powerful finale to take out the Hamilton Pacing Cup at his last start.

Craven, however, doesn’t quite share the bookmakers’ pre-race optimism surrounding Fides’ chances of completing back-to-back cup wins from a wide front row draw (barrier six).

He opened around $2.30 on Tuesday, but had drifted to $3 by Friday afternoon.

“I think he is a touch short considering it is a step-up in class for him taking on horses such as Hurricane Harley and Beyond Delight, and the draw makes it tricky for him,” Craven said.

“It will be interesting to see how it unfolds and how he goes because it’s probably not in his best interest to press forward in a hurry, even though he may find the front. But at what cost?”

Craven is also mindful the son of Rock N Roll Heaven hasn’t raced for more than a month.

“He probably would have gone around in the Casey Classic a couple of weeks ago, but for a little setback,” he said.

“But the horse is now happy and healthy, and given no bad luck, I expect him to run a race.”