Craig Rail will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Noble Count when he makes his Australian debut in a race at Yarra Valley this afternoon.
The Dianne Giles-trained Kiwi squaregaiter “appears to be a winning chance first up after finishing off hard from three back on the markers” in his trial at Melton on Tuesday night.
Rail made the son of Imperial Count one of five Blackbookers from this week’s Victorian trials circuit, with the updated list of horses to follow located at the bottom of the page.
TRIAL REPORT
SHEPPARTON 07/03/24
Trial 1: - CREDULOUS recently joined trainer Mick Carbone and scored impressively in the opening trial. He was able to lead throughout and scored by a comfortable margin in handy time. He backed up at Bendigo on Wednesday night and was able to get the prize. DANGER PLAY hasn’t started since being unplaced in the Tatlow Stakes last season. She trailed the leader and moved to the outside on the home turn, holding her own in the run to the judge. She is racing at Shepparton tonight and considering she ran second behind a subsequent winner, she must be considered as a winning chance. WIND SOCK settled three back on the inside, never peeled to the outside at any stage and went to the line hard held. FOLLOWTHEACE settled four back on the inside and made some ground in the latter stages to finish in fourth position.
Mile Rate: - 2.3.1 Last Half: - 56.2 Margins: - 5m, 5m
Trial 2: - ANAKIN settled three back on the inside, moved to the outside at the 600m and finished off best to win clearly. He is resuming from a spell at Shepparton this evening. KRASH KRADDOCK settled five back on the inside, ended up being four back mid-race, moved into the one out and one back trail at the 500m and tried hard for second. THIS YANKEE ROCKS was without cover early, progressed forward to find the lead at the 1700m and was run down over the latter stages. She is returning from a break at Shepparton this evening.
Mile Rate: - 2.3.2 Last Half: - 58.0 Margins: - 10m, 2m
Trial 3: - ALDEBARAN DINO began quickly but couldn’t find the lead, restrained to be last of the six runners and ran home strongly to win the trial impressively. He is a strong chance at Melton tomorrow night. ROAM settled four back on the inside and ran home strongly out wide late for an eye-catching second. She backed up with a game third at Wangaratta on Sunday and is a value hope at Melton tomorrow evening. MAJORS CREEK began quickly to find the lead and attempted to lead throughout. He battled on strongly for third with the trotter LOCKSLEY LOVER coming from five back on the markers to finish in fourth. MAJORS CREEK makes his debut at Shepparton this evening.
Mile Rate: - 2.2.0 Last Half: - 58.0 Margins: - 3m, head
Trial 5: - SUNSET STRIDE raced without cover in the early stages, pushed forward to lead then took cover at the 1500m. He moved away from the inside on the home turn and finished off best to win by a large margin. He is racing on Charlton Cup Day on Sunday. MY UPTOWN GIRL settled in the one out and one back trail, came out three horses wide at the 1600m and moved forward to find the lead shortly afterwards. She finished second ahead of BROADWAY BRENDA, which came from seventh on the markers to pick up third position. MY UPTOWN GIRL makes her debut at Shepparton this evening.
Mile Rate: - 2.2.6 Last Half: - 58.6 Margins: - 10m, 15m
MARYBOROUGH 10/03/24
Trial 1: - SUNDONS COURAGE began quickly to find the lead and was able to hold off his rivals to get the prize by a narrow margin. He returns from a spell in the Scotch Notch Memorial at Melton tomorrow night. NOTHINGBUTWAVES settled three back on the inside, used the sprint lane and finished off quickly in fast final sectionals for a handy second. REMI LOU finished third after trailing the leader and NEPHEW OF SONOKO was last of the four runners throughout.
Mile Rate: - 2.3.5 Last Half: - 58.3 Margins: - Neck, 2m
Trial 2: - KING KULAFU is a pacer and was taking on the trotters but he was able to get the job done. He began fast to lead from a wide draw, ran along at an even tempo and was comfortable in scoring. He is a winning chance at Shepparton this evening. INSPIRE continues to show some ability at the trials and finished second after trailing the leader throughout. He has a low National Rating of 42 and has the ability to win races when he can put it altogether. ALL THAT REMAINS settled five back on the inside and made ground in the latter stages to finish in third position.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.8 Last Half: - 60.3 Margins: - 8m, 6m
Trial 3: - GOLDEN TRIBE was able to win the trial for the juvenile pacers and looked good in the run to the finish, drawing away in a slick final quarter of 28.1 seconds after setting the speed throughout. He is by Soho Tribeca out of the unraced mare Golden Valour, which has produced two winners in Alcatraz Girl (1.57.8) and Miss Idaho (1.56.1) and he will make his debut at Maryborough on Monday. WICKED MITZI settled three back on the inside and finished in second ahead of JILPANGER ROSE (trailed leader) and PARISIAN ART (4 back pegs).
Mile Rate: - 2.3.1 Last Half: - 57.7 Margins: - 20m, ½ head
Trial 5: - PURPLE SUN trailed the leader early, obtained an inside run at the 1200m to find the lead and was able to win comfortably in the trial for the juvenile trotters. He is by Majestic Son out of Purple Lantana, which only had two starts in her career but one of those efforts was a second in the Parker Classic in South Australia. EL TORNADO finished second after leading out, breaking stride at the 1200m, making ground, galloping again at the 400m and finishing off fast. He made a few errors but showed a lot of potential. He is by Aldebaran Eagle out of El Gelato, which has produced the very good performer El Resamo (1.59.7) so he is worth following. SUNNY MAJESTY settled three back on the inside, moved up without cover then broke stride mid-race before running into a distant third.
Mile Rate: - 2.17.2 Last Half: - 68.7 Margins: - 3m, 25m
BLACKBOOKER: - El Tornado
MELTON ENTERTAINMENT PARK 12/03/24
Trial 1: - SOSOMAJESTIC commenced from the handicap of 20m but began well enough to trail the leader and was able to use the sprint lane to defeat the former New Zealand trotter NOBLE COUNT NZ, which makes his Australian debut at Yarra Valley this afternoon. He appears to be a winning chance first up after finishing off hard from three back on the markers. MY MATE YANKEE finished third after setting the speed and was ahead of IMPERIAL WHIZ NZ, which settled four back on the inside.
Mile Rate: - 2.7.0 Last Half: - 58.86 Margins: - Head, 3m
BLACKBOOKER: - Noble Count NZ
Trial 2: - KARDESLER NZ last raced in Victoria back in 2020 and his latest performances have been in Tasmania. He was one out and one back early before switching onto the markers to be six back on the inside. He angled out three horses wide approaching the home turn and finished off best to get the prize. YNOBE DAKOTA was stranded without cover early, restrained to be last of the seven runners and was the widest runner into the home straight so she produced a sound performance to fill second spot. BETTER EXCLUSIVE NZ was out of position at the start and ended up settling five back on the markers from the 500m mark. He worked into third ahead of ROCKNROLL GRONK, which trailed the leader and used the sprint lane. The juvenile pacer STORMS COLLIDE wasn’t far away after settling four back on the inside.
Mile Rate: - 1.58.4 Last Half: - 59.41 Margins: - 2m, Neck
Trial 5: - DEREK THE JET is a classy 3yo trotter and was able to defeat the pacers comfortably. He settled three back on the outside early, switched onto the markers in fifth mid-race then worked up into the one out and one back trail before commencing his winning run. TIME AFTER TIME settled last of the seven runners and was able to trail into the race behind DEREK THE JET. She tried hard in the straight and was able to beat the remainder of the field by a comfortable margin. THEY CALL ME AL finished in third after leading out before taking cover behind IM ROWDY with 1300m remaining.
Mile Rate: - 2.3.3 Last Half: - 60.13 Margins: - 5.5m, 9.5m
Trial 6: - THE HIGHLIGHT REEL couldn’t have been more impressive in her dominant victory over the 3yo pacers. She is by Poster Boy and is a close relation to the talented filly Call Me Diva (1.56.4, $27,3160) and she appears to be set for a big future. She was three back on the markers, came to the outside with 700m remaining and unleashed a devastating turn of speed to win by almost thirty metres with the last quarter being run in 26.24 seconds! ULTIMATE JOY finished in second after settling seventh on the pegs and moving away from the inside at the bell. COCOSDREAM led out then took cover and finished third with EUREKA JO coming from eighth on the markers to fill fourth spot. The third placed COCOSDREAM will be racing at Charlton on Sunday.
Mile Rate: - 1.57.9 Last Half: - 55.06 Margins: - 29m, ½ Neck
BLACKBOOKER: - The Highlight Reel
Trial 7: - APOLLOSTORM continued his impressive trial form with a big victory in a slashing mile rate of 1.55.4, which is outstanding for an unraced 2yo pacer. He was three then four back on the markers, came to the outside at the quarter pole and showed brilliant acceleration to win by a large margin. JUST PEDRO finished second after trailing the leader throughout. SAMMY SUFFARELL did well to finish in third after he set up a hectic tempo in the leading role. TOUGH SHAZ came from five back on the markers to fill fourth spot.
Mile Rate: - 1.55.4 Last Half: - 56.57 Margins: - 23.5m, 12.5m
Trial 8: - JACKS ULTIMATE FURY NZ finished fourth at Wagga when on debut. He shaped up nicely with his trial victory over SWARZ as he sprinted quickly from behind that pacer and grabbed victory on the line with the last quarter being run in a slick 27.57 seconds. SWARZ is a colt by Bettors Delight out of Annalise, which is a daughter of the top race and producing mare Art De Triomphe. He was beaten narrowly with VINEY being a distant third after settling three back on the markers and remaining in that position.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.4 Last Half: - 56.88 Margins: - Head, 15m
Trial 11: - LET HER ROLL is a juvenile filly for trainer Clayton Tonkin, whom has had many impressive juveniles performing particularly well at the trials over the past few weeks. She led throughout and scored by a large margin with the last quarter being run in 27.36 seconds so she looks to have a strong season forthcoming. CIGANO settled four back on the markers after putting in a few rough strides early and finished off boldly for second. CAPITALISM trailed the leader and finished third ahead of HIGHLAND BRETT (3 back markers).
Mile Rate: - 1.59.9 Last Half: - 57.11 Margins: - 24.5m, 7.5m
BLACKBOOKER: - Let Her Roll
Trial 12: - TREACHERY was able to lead throughout and win comfortably in the open class trial. She got away with a slow first lap but really finished off well with sizzling final sectionals (55.25, 26.52). CATCH A WAVE settled five back on the markers and ran home nicely for second and BACH (3 back markers) was doing his best work late to fill third spot. BACH will prove very hard to beat in his assignment at Melton tomorrow night. BLITZERN (behind leader) and FIAMMA (4 back markers) finished fourth and fifth respectively in a quality trial.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.6 Last Half: - 55.25 Margins: - 3.5m, 1.5m
Trial 13: - WAR DAN BUDDY led out then took cover and came away from the inside with 500m remaining, He got home best to score in a terrific mile rate of 1.54.6. FIRST DANCE NZ began quickly from a wide draw and worked very hard to lead. She went down fighting and finished a close second. ROCKNROLL WALLA was without cover early, eased to be four back on the inside and came out wide again at the quarter pole. He finished a brave third ahead of PERFECT IN PINK, which settled three back on the markers with JOYFUL coming from last to pick up HITTHEROADJACK NZ (5 back markers) over the concluding stages.
Mile Rate: - 1.54.6 Last Half: - 56.06 Margins: - Neck, 5.5m
BLACKBOOKER: - War Dan Buddy
SHEPPARTON 12/03/24
Trial 1: - SERG BLANCO NZ produced a very good performance to lead all of the way in fast time with his last 800m being recorded in 54.8 seconds! WESTERN SONADOR settled five back on the inside, moved into the one out and one back trail at the quarter pole and did extremely well to make ground in the latter stages. NOMORELYING delivered a very tidy performance considering his National Rating of 59, which was the lowest rating of those competing in the trial. He was four back on the inside, moved off the pegs with 400m remaining and battled on very well, beating home the open class pacer SAHARA TIGER (3 back markers) and SCORCHA (trailed leader).
Mile Rate: - 1.57.2 Last Half: - 54.8 Margins: - 8m, 5m
Trial 2: - OUR SPECIAL MEMORY won the trial for the juvenile pacers after trailing the leader and using the sprint lane. She was placed at Wagga on her debut and is out of the former top mare How’s The Memory (1.50.1, $154,424) so she is worth following. MIKI LOCH settled three back on the inside and finished second from ZERON, which was finishing off well from last of the four runners. YOUR LATE was the last horse to cross the line after setting the speed.
Mile Rate: - 2.3.6 Last Half: - 59.2 Margins: - 4m, 2m
Trial 4: - JACKSBOY began quickly to find the lead, set up a slow tempo and had a good kick left at the finish. He went to the line hard held and won by a comfortable margin so it was a good performance. WIND SOCK settled four back on the inside, moved up without cover at the 500m mark and finished off nicely with plenty in reserve. INSIDE LEG finished third after trailing the leader and using the sprint lane.
Mile Rate: - 2.4.2 Last Half: - 58.0 Margins: - 5m, 1m
