Harness racing form guru Craig Rail identified several standout performers at the recent trials.
Just As I Am caught Rail’s eye when going to the line hard held in a strong trial field at Cobram.
He also noted Optimal’s impressive performance, racing away to win by 20m in a Maryborough trial.
Sometuffluv stormed home in a Geelong trial, and is one to follow.
COBRAM 15/05/25
Trial 1: - BENNIE AND THE JETS NZ settled four back on the markers, waited for the sprint lane and powered home to win nicely. BACARDI WOOD showed good gate speed to lead, backed off the speed mid-race and was beaten on the line. He is backing up on Shepparton on Tuesday night. REY BAILANDO settled last of the six runners, angled to the outside on the home turn and finished off fast for an eye-catching third. JUST AS I AM trailed the leader, never peeled to the outside at any stage and went to the line hard held so she should have finished a lot closer.
Mile Rate: - 2.4.0 Last Half: - 61.3 Margins: - Head, 1m
BLACKBOOKER: - Just As I Am
Trial 2: - ELATED began quickly and pushed forward to find the lead at the 1800m, took cover at the 1500m and started a winning move from the quarter pole. She shot away over the concluding stages and recorded a slick final quarter so it was a good performance. EXCLUSIVE HUSTLER trailed the leader early, ended up being three back on the markers and came to the outside at the 300m. He finished in second and HOOKLINEANDSINKER came from last of the six runners to finish in a game third. Both the winner and the runner up will be competing at Wagga this afternoon.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.2 Last Half: - 58.8 Margins: - 15m, 5m
MARYBOROUGH 18/05/25
Trial 1: - MAJOR ANNIE NZ began very quickly to find the lead and ran along at a reasonable tempo. She finished off in fast final sectionals and was able to win nicely before backing up for a third placed effort at Maryborough on Wednesday afternoon. ZENARIO settled four back on the inside, moved off the pegs at the 600m mark and battled on well for second. TALLARAS SHADOW settled five back on the markers and followed ZENARIO into the race. She loomed up to finish in second but couldn’t get past ZENARIO in the straight so she had to settle for third.
Mile Rate: - 2.2.5 Last Half: - 57.9 Margins: - 6m, 1m
Trial 3: - OPTIMAL began quickly and was able to find the lead shortly after the start. He ran along at a genuine tempo and dashed well clear in the run to the finish, scoring by a large margin. DANCEBYTHESEASIDE trailed the leader throughout and held down second with LESTER coming from last of the five runners to be the third horse across the line. Both DANCEBYTHESEASIDE and LESTER finished unplaced at Ballarat on Thursday night.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.4 Last Half: - 57.2 Margins: - 20m, 1m
BLACKBOOKER: - Optimal
Trial 5: - SASSY GALLEON led out then took cover behind LITTLE YANKEE before coming to the outside at the 800m mark. She hit the lead at the 300m and drew away at the finish to win nicely. LITTLE YANKEE was able to hold down second and DAISY BOUCHEA was last of the three runners throughout. LITTLE YANKEE is backing up against a strong field at Melton tomorrow night.
Mile Rate: - 2.7.8 Last Half: - 59.7 Margins: - 8m, Neck
KYABRAM 18/05/25
Trial 1: - BACARDI WOOD was backing up from his trial second at Cobram a few days earlier and was able to win the trial by a comfortable margin so he should have plenty of confidence leading up to his effort at Shepparton on Tuesday. ORSINO BELLE hasn’t raced since a fourth at Shepparton in March and will be getting fitter after several recent trial performances. She finished in second with MY GODZILLA being in third. MY GODZILLA will be backing up at Shepparton on Tuesday night. CORAL CAYS was stood down to trial after finishing ninth at Wagga last outing and was the fourth horse across the line.
Mile Rate: - 2.8.9 Last Half: - 61.5 Margins: - 10m, 8m
CRANBOURNE 18/05/25
Trial 1: - FIREUPP showed very good gate speed to find the lead. He ran along at a genuine tempo and was able to record handy time to win by a large margin. MASTER LOUEY was stood down to trial after his performance in a Preview of the Australian Gold series last week. He trailed the leader but broke stride momentarily at the 300m and ended up finishing a distant second. He was forced to trial again at Geelong on Monday so he could take his place in tomorrow night’s Australian Gold Final.
Mile Rate: - 1.58.8 Last Half: - 60.2 Margins: - 27m, 305m
MILDURA 19/05/25
Trial 1: - BRING MY BLING began quickly and was able to find the lead shortly after the start. He ran along at an even tempo and dashed clear over the concluding stages to win easily. LIGHTNING BLING began quickly and was able to angle in behind the leader to finish in second position. MAJOR TARLZ came from four back on the markers to finish in third with MASTER LALA (5 back pegs) being the fourth horse across the line.
Mile Rate: - 2.2.9 Last Half: - 61.8 Margins: - 20m, 10m
Trial 4: - NOBLE TRICK began quickly and was able to find the lead. He ran along at a genuine tempo and appeared to be very strong at the finish, scoring untouched, so it was an impressive display. MAGIC MATTY sat in the trail throughout and finished in second with ESCOBAR NZ (3 back pegs) being in third position. MY ULTIMATE LEVI was slow to begin and settled a clear last early before coming to the outside at the bell. He couldn’t make ground in the latter stages and was the last horse across the line.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.6 Last Half: - 58.4 Margins: - 15m, 10m
GEELONG 19/05/25
Trial 1: - SOMETUFFLUV settled three back on the markers and moved into the death seat with 900m remaining. He powered away over the latter stages and was able to win with plenty in reserve so it was an impressive display. He is backing up at Shepparton on Tuesday night and appears to be a strong winning chance. MY ULTIMATE SASSY was without cover early then restrained to be fifth on the markers. She was the widest runner moving into the front straight and finished off nicely to be second across the line. OLIVICI NZ dropped back to be last of the six runners before working into the one out and one back trail in the final circuit. He battled on well for second and GOODTIME LIBBY (5 back markers) was doing her best work at the end and finished in fourth.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.8 Last Half: - 56.4 Margins: - 15m, head
BLACKBOOKER: - Sometuffluv
Trial 3: - SASSY GALLEON has performed below her best form since resuming but she would have gained a lot of confidence leading into her performance at Melton tomorrow night with her trial victories at Maryborough and Geelong. She led throughout and was untouched going to the finish. SHEZALOVER trailed the leader throughout and finished well clear of the remainder of the field in second position. VOUCHER QUEEN settled three back on the markers and finished in third with GOODTIME KENZI being last of the four runners throughout.
Mile Rate: - 2.7.1 Last Half: - 60.4 Margins: - 8m, 20m
Trial 4: - FAMOUS CRIMES settled three back on the inside and made his move at the bell to find the lead at the half mile marker. He sustained the run and was able to land the money, which is a good lead into his debut performance at Shepparton on Tuesday. LUVTOBEUPTOME was without cover early then restrained to be last of the four runners. He moved to the outside again at the 800m mark and went to the line untouched in second position so it was a tidy performance. MASTER LOUEY trailed the leader early before ending up being three back on the markers and was the third horse across the line.
Mile Rate: - 2.6.3 Last Half: - 58.6 Margins: - 2m, 15m
BENDIGO 19/05/25
Trial 2: - LETSROCKLETSROLL settled last of the five runners, moved to the outside at the 500m mark and was three horses wide on the home turn. He produced a strong finishing burst to win nicely. HES LETHAL settled three back on the markers, waited for the sprint lane and finished off well for second. He is resuming from a spell at Shepparton on Tuesday night. KALKADOON DREAMING trailed behind the leader LIKEABLE ROGUE, came to the outside at the 600m and finished in third. LIKEABLE ROGUE was fourth and is backing up at Shepparton on Tuesday night. STAROFTHESHOW (4 back pegs) was the last horse across the line after breaking stride with 150m remaining.
Mile Rate: - 2.2.2 Last Half: - 58.1 Margins: - 1m, 4m
Trial 3: - GUARANTEED END began fast to find the front and raced keenly throughout. He completely dominated his rivals and skipped well clear at the end to win by a large margin. He is resuming at Wagga this afternoon. FEAR THE POWER settled five back on the markers, moved into the running lane at the bell (1-2) and came out three horses wide with 600m remaining. He worked home well for a distant second with RESURGENT WARRIOR being in third after settling four back on the markers and angling into the running lane (1-3) at the 800m.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.9 Last Half: - 57.7 Margins: - 20m, 4m
Trial 4: - HEZA SECRET settled last on the markers, moved into the running lane at the bell (1-2) and ended up being in the one out and one back trail from the 500m. He came out three horses wide on the home turn and got home best to claim the prize. HUNGRY HOGARTH settled five back on the markers, pulled extremely hard in the run and moved into the one out and one back trail at the bell. He was left without cover at the 500m mark but worked to the front before being run down on the line. GLENLINE raced without cover for the majority of the journey, dropped in for a breather behind the leader at the 500m and battled on well for third. ZAREM settled three back on the markers, moved off the pegs at the 600m and made ground at the end for a handy fourth.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.7 Last Half: - 59.1 Margins: - Head, 4m
BALLARAT 20/05/25
Trial 1: - LOAN SAILOR began sharply to find the lead and backed off the tempo mid-race. He dashed home in a slick final quarter of 28.3 seconds and scored softly. SKYZ ABOVE finished in second after trailing the leader throughout. SHESTERKIN is an unraced juvenile colt by Poster Boy, which finished third after settling three back on the markers. The trotter HOPPY NZ was last of the four runners for the duration but wasn’t beaten by far.
Mile Rate: - 2.3.6 Last Half: - 58.42 Margins: - 3m, 1m
Trial 2: - SOHO PIASTRI began well and pushed forward past stable mate SOHO WASHINGTON to find the lead shortly after the start. He wanted to hang out under pressure in the straight but did enough to hold on and win. HAPPILY was last of the three runners early, got through to trail the leader when SOHO WASHINGTON left the pegs at the 500m and obtained an inside run in the home straight. She finished off well for a close second with SOHO WASHINGTON being ten metres away at the finish.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.3 Last Half: - 56.83 Margins: - 1m, 10m