Fresh faces were all the rage on the Victorian trials circuit this week, with a trio of maidens catching the eye.
First there was Alex Ashwood's unraced three-year-old Its Our Secret, who crashed the line in her Bendigo trial for a four-metre win.
Then at Shepparton on Tuesday, Full Of Spice and Raised On Leather put in successive Blackbook worthy performances.
Having had one start - a fifth placing in June - since moving south to John Newberry's camp, two-year-old Full Of Spice showed good gate speed to lead and held all at bay. Then unraced Raised On Leather impressed for Mitchell Frost, also booking a place in the Blackbook.
Scroll down for this week's Victorian highlights, including key replays.
SHEPPARTON 14/09/23
Trial 1: - TRIPLE FOUR NZ is a former New South Wales pacer, which joins trainer Roly Wilson. He settled five back on the markers, moved into the running lane (1-2) at the 700m and finished off fast from the home turn to win impressively. MONGIANA settled four back on the inside, moved into the one out and one back trail at the 700m and ran home well through the middle. He is returning from a spell tonight at Shepparton and should run his usual honest race. EYE BELIEVE settled last of the six runners, angled out wide on the home turn and finished off fast for a handy third. He is competing at Wagga this afternoon.
Mile Rate: - 1.59.9 Last Half: - 57.0 Margins: - 5m, 2m
Trial 2: - TIZZY LIZZIE is a nicely bred filly, which hasn’t raced since winning at Yarra Valley in January. She has since transferred to trainer Peter Romero and she won her trial nicely. She settled five back on the inside, gained a one out and one back trail at the 900m and ran home strongly through the middle to snare victory. WIND SOCK settled six back on the markers, moved into the running lane at the half mile marker (1-2) and came out three horses wide at the quarter pole. He finished off solidly for second and RAISED ON LEATHER finished fast from seventh to pick up third placing.
Mile Rate: - 2.3.0 Last Half: - 57.7 Margins: - Head, 8m
STAWELL 14/09/23
Trial 1: - CURYO GENTLEMAN prepared for his effort at Hamilton this afternoon with a runaway trial victory in handy time. He defeated MY GREAT EIGHT, which is an unraced colt by Betting Line out of the classy mare Hellovaway (1.52.1, $118,902). STATELY SALOME was the third horse to complete the course.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.0 Last Half: - 59.7 Margins: - 31m, 154m
BENDIGO 18/09/23
Trial 2: - ITS OUR SECRET is an unraced filly by American Ideal out of Chequeitout, a race winning daughter of Lombo Little Dippa, which produced the classy performer Mo Cushla (1.52.4, $158,807). She settled four back on the inside, moved into the one out and one back trail at the 400m mark and finished off best in fast final sectionals to win clearly. MY LADY SARAH finished second after settling three back on the markers then making a move at the quarter pole. I SEE IRIS was third after trailing the leader RICH LIST throughout but wasn’t fully extended at any stage.
Mile Rate: - 2.5.7 Last Half: - 58.3 Margins: - 4m, 5m
BLACKBOOKER: - Its Our Secret
Trial 4: - THE WAITING has been unplaced in all of her three starts to date but her trial form is much better than her race form and she excelled at her latest trial victory. She began quickly to lead then dashed well clear at the end to win by a large margin. RUNNING IN CIRCLES finished second after settling three back on the markers and STYLISH LOUISE (trailed leader) was third past the post.
Mile Rate: - 2.7.3 Last Half: - 58.7 Margins: - 23m, 6m
Trial 8: - FYNN FROST NZ began well and was able to progress forward to find the lead shortly after the start. He was clearly the class runner of the field and was able to score softly in the end, dashing home in a slick final quarter of 27.3 seconds. LIFEINTHEBALANCE settled last of the four runners and did a very good job to finish in second spot. He continued to make up ground over the concluding stages so his last 400m was run in extremely fast time. BLISSFULL MIND finished second after trailing the leader throughout and AROCKNATTHEPARK (3 back markers) was last of the four runners across the line.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.1 Last Half: - 56.4 Margins: - 4m, 2.5m
GEELONG 18/09/23
Trial 3: - HARRY STAMPER NZ was able to take out the trial for the open class trotters. He settled last of the three runners, moved to the outside with 500m remaining and finished off determinedly to get up and win on the line. OFORTUNA attempted to lead throughout and kicked back strongly once challenged in the home straight. MADENA SKY finished last of the trio after trailing the leader throughout.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.6 Last Half: - 58.2 Margins: - Neck, 12m
Trial 4: - CRIMES OF A LADY hasn’t raced since July 2022 but she was impressive during her first campaign of racing having had two wins and a third from three attempts. She led out then took cover and came to the outside with 500m remaining before sprinting home best to win the trial comfortably. RENDEZVOUS finished in second after pushing forward to find the lead shortly after the start and PLATINUM JIVE NZ came from five back on the markers to fill third spot. PLATINUM JIVE NZ is a former New Zealand pacer, which won at Invercargill back in March.
Mile Rate: - 2.2.7 Last Half: - 59.0 Margins: - 4m, 1m
Trial 5: - HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN NZ hasn’t raced since finishing ninth in the 2022 Horsham Pacing Cup. He settled four back on the markers, moved away from the inside with 500m remaining and sustained a strong run to gain the prize. OVER THE ODDS NZ began quickly to lead, took cover at the 1700m and finished off fast to gain second position. CELESTIALFRAGRANCE settled last of the five runners, moved into the one out and one back trail at the 500m and finished off well for a close up third. MAJESTIC CRUISER was fourth past the post after pressing forward to find the lead at the 1700m.
Mile Rate: - 1.59.3 Last Half: - 58.5 Margins: - 2.5m, ½ head
Trial 6: - ROCKNALLOVERTHEWORLD NZ settled four back on the markers, moved into the one out and one back trail turning into the back straight then surged forward to hit the lead at the quarter pole. He sustained the run to win nicely. SOMEBEACHDREAMIN trailed the leader throughout and finished in second position with SHARPER MEMORY coming from five back on the inside to pick up third spot. BONA KHAN picked up a lot of ground after galloping early to be fourth past the post.
Mile Rate: - 1.59.5 Last Half: - 57.9 Margins: - 5m, 2m
MILDURA 18/09/23
Trial 1: - POWERSOFPERSUASION galloped away at his latest attempt and was placed outside of the draw. He began well in the opening trial to trail the leader, came to the outside with 500m remaining and sprinted very quickly to record an impressive win. He is backing up at Ouyen on Sunday and performed well enough in the trial to be very competitive but he is drawn on the outside of the second row. HEART OF COOPER was second after setting the speed and COCO BEACH was last of the three runners throughout.
Mile Rate: - 1.59.9 Last Half: - 57.1 Margins: - 15m, 2m
Trial 4: - OUR ULTIMATE BONNY hasn’t had a start since being unplaced at Globe Derby in May but she appeared to be very sharp at the trials. She trailed the leader, came to the outside with 500m remaining and sprinted very fast to win by a large margin. ZION FRANCO was out of position at the start, settled down in fourth position and finished off solidly for second. He was well clear over MASTER LALA (3 back markers) with the early leader THE TOOTH FAIRY being fourth past the post. ZION FRANCO is competing at Ouyen on Sunday afternoon.
Mile Rate: - 2.3.4 Last Half: - 60.7 Margins: - 20m, 20m
Trial 6: - NELSON BAY galloped away at her debut but her trial form has been strong. She led out then took cover at the 1200m before producing a big finish to win by a large margin, which would have given her plenty of confidence leading up to her performance at Ouyen on Sunday. BLISSFULL PENNY settled three back on the markers and worked into second spot with THREE STRIKES MACH coming from four back on the markers to finish in third.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.3 Last Half: - Not Given Margins: - 20m, 20m
SHEPPARTON 19/09/23
Trial 1: - TRIPLE FOUR NZ continued his strong trial form by winning his second trial in the space of five days after leading throughout. TIZZY LIZZIE was also backing up after a handy trial effort on the Thursday night and finished in second spot after settling three back on the markers and coming out three horses wide on the home turn. COOLHAND EASTON NZ was third after trailing the leader throughout and ELECTRIC EYE was last of the four runners for the duration.
Mile Rate: - 2.2.1 Last Half: - 56.6 Margins: - 8m, 12m
Trial 2: - FULL OF SPICE hasn’t raced since a fifth at Shepparton in June but she performed very nicely in her trial victory. She showed good gate speed to lead clearly, ran along at a genuine tempo and remained strong at the finish. Considering she has a low National Rating of 47, she can be well placed and is worth following. KRAFTY CANDY is a nicely bred filly being by Betterthancheddar out of the fast mare Eye Like Candy (1.55.8), which has produced three winners including Jawbreaker (1.52.8, $106,700). She trailed the leader throughout and finished second. FELLINI came from five back on the inside and finished in third spot.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.7 Last Half: - 58.7 Margins: - 5m, 10m
BLACKBOOKER: - Full of Spice
Trial 3: - RAISED ON LEATHER backed up from his eye-catching trial effort on the Thursday with a good victory over SPEEDY LOVER. He settled four back on the inside, moved into the one out and one back trail at the 800m and ran home strongly. SPEEDY LOVER settled three back on the inside, came away from the markers in the last lap and battled on well for a close second. The early leader BUS STOP was third past the post.
Mile Rate: - 2.7.3 Last Half: - 58.8 Margins: - Head, 3m
BLACKBOOKER: - Raised On Leather
