Harness Racing Victoria form analysist, Craig Rail has plucked out a few shining lights from this week’s trial circuit.
Rail highlighted the Glenn Freeman-prepared Alabama Ice who has finished at the back of the field in his last two starts.
“Began quickly to find the lead and ran along at an even tempo. He had a good kick left in the run to the finish and was able to score impressively. He has a low National Rating of 52 so he can be well placed when he next steps out onto the race track, which happens to be at Shepparton on Tuesday night,” Rail said.
Rail also added Kota Bharu, Hykeepmeposted and Aldebaranharlequin to his file this week.
KILMORE 05/12/24
Trial 1: – HEAVENLY NIKKY won the opening trial for the rising juvenile pacers. She is by Rock N Roll Heaven out of Nickle Miss (1.56.6, $66,050) and is being prepared by Rita Burnett. ADAMA VILLMA completed a quinella for the stable and finished a length behind the winner. She is by Vincent out of the race winning mare Spanish Rain (2.1.9, $36,294). The David Miles trained duo TARZINA (Vincent – Tarzali 1.57.7, $41,565) and SILVER MOE (Bling It On – Flyin Indi Air 1.58.1, $100,119) finished third and fourth respectively.
Mile Rate: – 2.8.8 Last Half: – 62.5 Margins: – 3m, 50m
Trial 2: – LADY LANI hasn’t raced since finishing last of ten at Kilmore in July but she recorded handy time and finished well clear of her rivals at her trial success. She is resuming from a spell at Cranbourne on Sunday. KITCH MACRAY finished in second position and backed up with a third placed effort at Warragul on Monday. He is also backing up at Cranbourne on Sunday. DENZIL DEBRO has recently returned from a long stint in Mildura and was last of the three runners to cross the line. He backed up with his effort at Kilmore on Thursday night, where he finished seventh behind Jetter Son.
Mile Rate: – 2.1.5 Last Half: – 57.0 Margins: – 15m, 6m
Trial 4: – MOMENTUM SHIFT is a handy juvenile pacer, which hasn’t started since a win at Maryborough in September but is resuming at Shepparton on Tuesday night. He recorded a handy mile rate of 1.58.3 to defeat ISLAS JOY NZ, which backed up with an unplaced effort at Shepparton on Tuesday night after she showed early speed. LETSGO MATILDA finished third with large distances to OUR LONELY WOLF and JUDAH in fourth and fifth positions respectively with JUDAH backing up quickly at Kilmore on Thursday night, where he finished unplaced behind Cyclone Bella NZ.
Mile Rate: – 1.58.3 Last Half: – 61.3 Margins: – 2m, 8m
Trial 6: – USED TO BE A MAID hasn’t raced since finishing eighth at Melton in early August but she does have ability when she can put it altogether. She defeated the pacer JEDI MIND by a large margin with a further ten metres back to GIL FAVOR NZ in third position. ERO CARPE DIEM finished fourth with MAJOR MAX being last of the five runners to cross the line. JEDI MIND is competing at Cranbourne on Sunday while GIL FAVOR NZ and ERO CARPE DIEM raced at Kilmore on Thursday night, where they finished eighth and seventh respectively.
Mile Rate: – 2.3.7 Last Half: – 59.6 Margins: – 12m, 10m
SHEPPARTON 05/12/24
Trial 1: – ALABAMA ICE began quickly to find the lead and ran along at an even tempo. He had a good kick left in the run to the finish and was able to score impressively. He has a low National Rating of 52 so he can be well placed when he next steps out onto the race track, which happens to be at Shepparton on Tuesday night. HES LETHAL settled four back on the inside and moved away from the markers with 400m remaining. He chased hard for a handy second. SON OF A BROAD finished third after trailing the leader then finished unplaced at Bendigo on Wednesday night and NIGHT SCHOOL came from last to pick up fourth.
Mile Rate: – 2.1.3 Last Half: – 57.1 Margins: – 8m, 12m
BLACKBOOKER: – Alabama Ice
Trial 2: – GUARANTEED END trailed the leader, came to the outside at the 500m and kicked on well to win the trial narrowly. TIVOLI settled down three back on the markers, angled out three horses wide and finished off solidly for second. They will clash again tonight at Melton in a heat of the Home Grown Classic. FLOJOS BEST settled down last of the four runners and ran into third on her way to her Home Grown Classic heat effort tonight with the early leader SASSY GABBY being the last runner home.
Mile Rate: – 2.3.1 Last Half: – 57.0 Margins: – Head, 8m
Trial 3: – NUGGET ROGERS began very quickly and was a clear leader in the early stages. He finished off in a handy final half of 57.6 seconds and was untroubled in scoring. EXCLUSIVE HUSTLER trailed the leader and came to the outside with 500m remaining to give chase but he couldn’t peg back the margin. Both horses will be competing in a heat of the Home Grown Classic at Melton this evening. WICKED CONFESSION finished in third after being three back on the markers throughout and ARCHIE MOTH picked up some ground from last to be fourth across the line.
Mile Rate: – 2.1.4 Last Half: – 57.6 Margins: – 5m, 10m
Trial 5: – TENASEA WHISKEY trailed the leader and came to the outside from the home turn before dashing away to win clearly. He is backing up in a heat of the Home Grown Classic at Melton this evening. SEBS GAL finished in second after setting the speed and ALDEBARANHARLEQUIN did a big job to finish third after he galloped away, lost valuable ground and only tacked onto the main division with 900m remaining. He even came away from the inside at the 500m mark to pick up ground so he did show some potential. TWIST TEE finished fourth after settling three back on the markers and will be backing up at Shepparton on Tuesday night.
Mile Rate: – 2.8.0 Last Half: – 61.0 Margins: – 10m, 20m
BLACKBOOKER: – Aldebaranharlequin
MARYBOROUGH 07/12/24 (No results of the Maryborough trials have been uploaded onto the website. The results in this report were as broadcast on the day and are unofficial).
Trial 1: – PRINCE OF ROCK delivered a very good performance to defeat the pacers in the opening trial. He settled down five back on the markers, moved into the running lane (1-2) in the back straight and stormed home out wide on the track. MONSIEUR FLAMEL led and went quickly down the back straight when challenged by QUEEN BESSIE, which left the markers in third to move up and challenge. He started to get weary in the straight but finished second with QUEEN BESSIE doing a good job to hold down third. HES GONESKI was fourth after trailing the leader throughout. The winner PRINCE OF ROCK is racing at Melton tomorrow night and the second placed MONSIEUR FLAMEL competed at Kilmore on Thursday, where he finished second again behind Hurrikane Dusty.
Mile Rate: – Unavailable Last Half: – Unavailable Margins: – 2m, 4m (approximately)
Trial 4: – DANCING WITH LUSH settled four back on the markers and moved away from the inside with 500m remaining. She sprinted quickly to hit the lead and seemed to win with plenty in reserve so it was a good performance. JANIEBQUICK settled last of the five runners, moved into the one out and one back trail and worked into second position. She backed up at Kilmore on Thursday night and finished unplaced behind Cyclone Bella NZ. LOLLIE POP finished in third after being three back on the markers throughout.
Mile Rate: – Unavailable Last Half: – Unavailable Margins: – 6m, 12m (approximately)
Trial 5: – PLEASANT SURPRISE trailed the leader early and ended up being three back on the markers with 1100m remaining. He moved off the markers in the back straight on the final occasion and got up on the line to win the trial narrowly. He is making his debut in a heat of the Home Grown Classic at Melton this evening. LITTLER began quickly to find the lead before taking cover mid-race. He finished in second with SUNSGOTABITE being third across the line after doing some work mid-race, gaining a trail and looming up to win with 100m remaining before galloping late. The second placed LITTLER will also be backing up at Melton this evening.
Mile Rate: – Unavailable Last Half: – Unavailable Margins: – Head, 8m
MELTON 10/12/24
Trial 2: – ALFREDJOHNCRUSADER settled three back on the markers before coming to the outside with 600m remaining. He was able to finish off in a slick final half of 57.3 seconds and gained the upper hand on the line. BEAT SWEET trailed the leader and moved away from the inside approaching the home turn. She battled on well for second and WRITTENINTHESKY did a very good job to come from sixth to pick up third position. BEARHUNTA was five back on the inside throughout and worked home fairly well for fourth. He will be competing at Shepparton on Tuesday night.
Mile Rate: – 1.59.6 Last Half: – 57.3 Margins: – 1/2Head, 5m
Trial 4: – TUIVASA settled four back on the inside, moved up without cover with a mile remaining and progressed forward to find the top at the 1400m. He was joined on the home turn but kicked on well in the straight and was able to hold on and win. RAKAROMPA NZ was four back on the markers for the majority of the trial, moved into the one out and one back trail at the quarter pole and came out three horses wide on the home turn. She sprinted nicely in a slick final quarter of 27.7 seconds to finish a narrow second. CAPITALISM was third after leading out t hen taking cover and ROCK POSTER (trailed leader, 3 back markers) was fourth across the line on his way to competing in a heat of the Home Grown Classic at Melton this evening.
Mile Rate: – 2.2.3 Last Half: – 58.1 Margins: – 1/2Neck, 2m
Trial 5: – G B BRAVE NZ settled three back on the markers, waited for the sprint lane and showed good acceleration in the straight to get the prize. He is backing up at Shepparton on Tuesday night. HYKEEPMEPOSTED delivered an eye-catching performance to run second. He was five back on the markers, followed G B BRAVE NZ into the sprint lane and finished off fast. Considering he is an unraced gelding and the winner of the trial G B BRAVE NZ is a proven race winner and has been placed in five of his ten starts, HYKEEPMEPOSTED is worth following. MY ULTIMATE SASSY settled five back on the markers, moved up without cover at the 700m and finished in third.
Mile Rate: – 2.1.6 Last Half: – 57.3 Margins: – 1.5, 3.25m
BLACKBOOKER: – Hykeepmeposted
Trial 7: – OLLIVICI NZ was very impressive in his victory over AROHA KOE. He settled four back on the markers, moved to the outside at the 900m mark, quickly took the lead away from BRANDLO PRINCE at the quarter pole and sustained the run to win easily. AROHA KOE was three back on the markers before angling into the one out and one back trail behind OLLIVICI NZ. He battled on well for second with HEPHAESTUS PHOENIX running into third after trailing the leader throughout. OLLIVICI NZ, AROHA KOE and BRANDLO PRINCE will all be competing in the Aldebaran FFA on Saturday night and HEPHAESTUS PHOENIX contests the 4yo/5yo Trot on the same program.
Mile Rate: – 2.1.6 Last Half: – 57.3 Margins: – 6m, 7.5m
Trial 8: – KOTA BHARU is an interesting horse for the Anthony Butt and Sonya Smith training combination. He is a 9yo trotter by Skyvalley that is yet to make his debut but he created a good impression in his win over RYMES. He led throughout and scored comfortably with RYMES doing everything right in the trial, gaining the position behind the leader and finishing six metres astern at the finish. BUSLIN BRODY was three back on the markers, moved to the outside at the half mile marker but couldn’t go with the leading duo.
Mile Rate: – 2.3.1 Last Half: – 61.6 Margins: – 6m, 34m
BLACKBOOKER: – Kota Bharu
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