Craig Rail has “Blackbooked” two horses from this week’s Victorian trial scene that will make their competitive debuts for the Jess Tubbs stable during the long-awaited return race meeting at Terang next Monday night.
Macho Man, a Muscle Mass trotter, and Hes From Heaven, a pacer by Sweet Lou, both impressed in hit-outs at Melton Entertainment Park on Tuesday and have been entered for respective races at Terang.
A major stable complex development has kept racing away from Terang since February 2022, but all is in readiness for the 11-race card, which kicks off from 5.37pm.
Rail also added Beryls Grin and Kartiare to his Blackbook, which has been updated and can be found at the bottom of this week’s trial report.
TRIAL REPORT
SHEPPARTON 26/10/23 (The results of the Shepparton trials have not been uploaded onto the harness website. The results of this report are from the broadcast of the video replays and are not official)
Trial 1: - THE BIGBOSS was a very impressive winner of the opening trial. He settled down five back on the markers, moved away from the inside at the mile marker and dashed around the field to lead with 1400m remaining. He sprinted well clear of a good field at the end and seemed to score with something in reserve. HIRANYA produced a good effort to finish in second. She settled six back on the markers, moved up without cover from the 700m and sustained a long run. BIG BAD OSSIE was third across the line after being four back on the markers for the majority of the trial and angling wide on the home turn. LITTLE MISS LILY led out, took a trail and ended up being three back on the markers before working into fourth position.
Mile Rate: - Unavailable Last Half: - Unavailable Margins: 12m, 4m (approximately)
Trial 2: - KICKER ROCK continued his good trial form with a victory over BERYLS GRIN. He was in the one out and one back trail early before being left without cover and pressed forward to find the lead with 1300m remaining. BERYLS GRIN led out but in a race of changes, ended up being four back on the markers before moving into the running lane (1-1) with 500m remaining. He came to the outside on the home turn and finished off nicely for second. He is competing at Cobram on Monday and appears to be a good winning chance. JAPANESE MIKI finished third after being in various positions in the run. He was without cover early, eased to be three back on the markers, gained a one out and one back trail in the back straight and finished off reasonably well. PEE BEES DELIGHT came from last of the seven runners to finish in fourth but unfortunately galloped mid-race when resuming at Shepparton on Wednesday.
Mile Rate: - Unavailable Last Half: - Unavailable Margins: - 5m, 2m (approximately)
BLACKBOOKER: - Beryls Grin
Trial 3: - FOLLOWTHEACE has been going very nicely at the trials for a long time and continued to build momentum with a comfortable victory. He was without cover early, pushed to the lead at the 1700m and won in something in hand albeit shifting out in the run to the finish. ROMAN ARNIE led out, took the trail and waited for the sprint lane to finish in second spot. MARAKO SHARK was third past the post after being three back on the markers throughout.
Mile Rate: - Unavailable Last Half: - Unavailable Margins: - 5m, head (approximately)
Trial 4: - NORMANDY began very quickly to lead clearly around the first corner and was able to lead throughout. He resumed from a spell at Kilmore on Thursday night and finished third after showing good gate speed again. SILVER SPOON finished in second and never peeled to the outside until the very end of the trial. She backed up with a third placed effort at Maryborough on Thursday behind Watts Up Partytime. SHESAWISH was five back on the markers, gave the leaders a healthy start and charged into third position before angling in behind SILVER SPOON in the final 100m of the trial. SISTER EVARISTA came from last of the six runners and did a good job to roll into fourth place.
Mile Rate: Unavailable Last Half: - Unavailable Margins: - 3m, 4m (approximately)
BACCHUS MARSH 28/10/23
Trial 2: - NO WIN NO WORRIES recently returned from a New South Wales campaign and was able to win the trial over ROYLANCE. She won the trial in handy time but backed up at Shepparton on Wednesday and finished unplaced from a poor draw. ROYLANCE hasn’t raced since being unplaced at Melton in July and finished in second with REALLY SMARTIE being the third horse across the line. REALLY SMARTIE strikes a suitable assignment for his return to racing at Swan Hill this evening.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.5 Last Half: - 61.0 Margins: - 1m, 10m
Trial 5: - BART BENTLEY hasn’t started since recording a victory at Shepparton in May. He has joined the Ken Tippet stable and has had three starts in his career for two wins and a third so he did well in his first preparation of racing and is worth thought at Terang on Monday night. He was able to win his trial by a large margin over MISS CONTRARY, which is an unraced filly by Modern Art out of the race winning mare Miss Tina (1.58.4, $25,515). Miss Tina has produced three pacing winners and one trotting winner including Lively Operative (1.55.9, $68,054) and Lively Princess (1.57.0, $31,860). LOU EASYANA was third in the trial ahead of SOFT LANDING and VILLAGE SMIRKER.
Mile Rate: - 2.2.1 Last Half: - 60.8 Margins: - 15m, 8m
Trial 7: - MAJALINER hasn’t raced since a fifth at Maryborough in January but returns from a break at Terang on Monday night. He only had two starts during his last preparation so he has been sparingly raced recently but he dashed home in reasonable sectional times to win his trial comfortably. STRAPPING RED finished in second place with KENDYS BUTTERFLY and CLASSIC ANGELINA being third and fourth respectively. CLASSIC ANGELINA has drawn on the pole position in a strong race at Melton tomorrow night.
Mile Rate: - 2.3.4 Last Half: - 58.6 Margins: - 2m, 5m
Trial 8: - TACTICAL BOB galloped away on his debut in February and was given a break but returns tonight at Swan Hill. He recorded slow time but won the final trial by a comfortable margin over CHANGE OF PLANS, which hasn’t raced since November 2020. The third placed DO I is an unraced pacer by Devilish Smile out of the former handy mare Cherock, which finished second in the 2001 Redcliffe Oaks. She has produced two winners in Sonny Rocks (2.1.6, $6,653) and Kid Colossus (1.57.8, $45,824).
Mile Rate: - 2.8.2 Last Half: - 63.7 Margins: - 6m, 3m
ECHUCA 29/10/23
Trial 1: - MY JERRY showed very good gate speed to lead in the early stages. He ran along at an even tempo and was untroubled in scoring by a large margin. He is awkwardly drawn at Cobram on Monday but performed well enough in the trial to suggest he could be competitive. COMMUNITY ART was last of the four runners in the early stages but ended up being three back on the markers when KAMARAN made an early error. He finished off reasonably well for second with the juvenile trotter CRESCO CASHFLOW finishing a distant third after trailing the leader throughout. She is by Centurion ATM out of the handy mare Starry Wood (1.58.5, $66,828). COMMUNITY ART is competing in the opening race on the Swan Hill Cup program tonight.
Mile Rate: - 2.5.0 Last Half: - 60.0 Margins: - 20m, 20m
MILDURA 30/10/23
Trial 1: - CUTTY SARK has only had one start since July and that performance was against the open class horses. He recorded handy time in winning the first trial in preparation for his second up effort at Mildura on Tuesday night. He won over TACT FERGIE NZ with ABSTRACTOR being third across the line. STAVROS THE TERROR NZ is now with trainer Aaron Coad after racing in Tasmania and was last of the four runners to finish.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.7 Last Half: - 60.1 Margins: - 3m, 2m
Trial 2: - OUR MASTER PLAY was stood down to trial after breaking stride at his latest performance but he has won two trials since at Ouyen and Mildura. He recorded a big winning margin in his trial success over ELPINE WARRIOR and TRYAGAINFREDDY so he should have plenty of confidence leading into his assignment at Swan Hill this evening.
Mile Rate: - 2.3.7 Last Half: - 60.1 Margins: - 20m, 18m
Trial 5: - HEADBANGER has been freshened since his latest fourth at Mildura on September 01 but is scheduled to compete at Mildura on Tuesday night. He recorded reasonable time in his victory over SIR VINCENT in the trial and he carries a low National Rating of 44 so he might be able to pick up a race in the near future. SIR VINCENT hasn’t started since finishing third at Mildura in mid-September and was well ahead of the third placed MISTA PUMBLECHOOK in the run to the finish.
Mile Rate: - 2.2.1 Last Half: - 61.0 Margins: - 3m, 12m
CRANBOURNE 30/10/23
Trial 2: - KARTIARE was extremely impressive in his trial victory. He was inconvenienced when MIKI MARK broke stride at the start and galloped himself in the early stages, losing approximately fifteen metres before settling down six back on the markers. He came out three horses wide at the 600m mark and sustained a long run to win clearly, seemingly with plenty in reserve. ONEHANDONEBOUNCE was three back on the markers before commencing a run half way down the back straight on the final occasion. He hit the lead at the quarter pole but was run down over the final stages. The trotter KHEIRON came from four back on the markers to fill third spot with SOYS SISTER (5 back markers) being the fourth horse across the line.
Mile Rate: - 2.3.2 Last Half: - 59.1 Margins: - 8m, 15m
BLACKBOOKER: - Kartiare
Trial 3: - The exciting juvenile pacer SMOKEN ACE NZ, which remains undefeated from five starts, continued his good trial form with an effortless display. He led throughout and defeated his only other rival DENIS WILLIAM by just over three lengths with plenty in reserve, dashing home in a slick last quarter of 27.8 seconds in the process.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.4 Last Half: - 57.3 Margin: - 9.5m
MELTON ENTERTAINMENT PARK 31/10/23
Trial 1: - BOLLINGER NZ has won two trials from the standing start recently and his latest success was over the champion trotter JUST BELIEVE. JUST BELIEVE stepped away beautifully from behind the tapes to lead comfortably with BOLLINGER NZ trailing before coming to the outside on the home turn. The pacer was able to outgun the trotter but the sectional times were fast (57.04, 27.31).
Mile Rate: - 2.2.0 Last Half: - 57.04 Margin: - 3.5m
Trial 4: - ROBBINMEMATES began fast to lead, ran along at a genuine tempo and established a big lead in the last lap. He remained strong at the finish and scored by a large margin. MACHO MAN was beaten by over thirty metres but he is worth following and makes his debut at Terang on Monday night. He is a 3yo trotter by Muscle Mass out of Illawong Moonshine, a race winning mare (1.58.1, $63,515) that has produced three good performers in Cover Of Darkness (1.55.1), Illawong Moonbeam (1.57.4) and the current juvenile filly The Priestess (2.6.4). MACHO MAN settled down three back the markers, came to the outside with 500m remaining and worked into second without being extended. DESERT ASSASSIN finished off nicely from four back on the markers to pick up third position.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.2 Last Half: - 58.49 Margins: - 30.5m, 11m
BLACKBOOKER: - Macho Man
Trial 5: - HAMMER DAN hasn’t raced since being unplaced in the Gold Bullion Final in April but he took on handy opposition and was able to win nicely. He was three back on the markers, moved to the outside approaching the home turn and finished off best to score in good time. MONTANA FLASH came from last off the four runners and did well to pick up second with the early leader TELEMACHUS being third across the line. TELEMACHUS is competing in the St Arnaud Pacing Cup on Sunday afternoon. ANOTHER NIEN was fourth after trailing the leader throughout.
Mile Rate: - 1.57.8 Last Half: - 56.44 Margins: - 3m, 2m
Trial 6: - DISTRICT ATTORNEY possesses brilliant speed and was able to sprint sharply from last of the three runners in a sizzling final quarter of 26.43 seconds to record another impressive victory. CAPTAIN BELLASARIO finished second after trailing the leader throughout but didn’t really get fully extended until after DISTRICT ATTORNEY rushed on past and he was holding his own at the end. The early leader MAGNETIC TERROR NZ was last of the three runners to complete the course.
Mile Rate: - 1.57.1 Last Half: - 55.03 Margins: - 4.5m, 8m
Trial 7: - HES FROM HEAVEN NZ is a New Zealand bred juvenile gelding by Sweet Lou for trainer Jess Tubbs that will be making his debut at Terang on Monday night. He produced a dominant display by leading throughout and winning the trial over MEGAWATTS, which settled three back on the markers and came to the outside with 300m remaining. MAGICAFTERMIDNIGHT raced fiercely from four back on the markers and worked into a distant third ahead of MIDNITE DESIRE. HES FROM HEAVEN NZ recorded handy time and appears to be worth following.
Mile Rate: - 1.58.9 Last Half: - 57.48 Margins: - 14m, 7.5m
BLACKBOOKER: - Hes From Heaven NZ
