A couple of nicely-bred unraced pacers are expected to make their presence felt at the races following good hit-outs at Bacchus Marsh and Terang.
Harness Racing Victoria form guru Craig Rail loved the effort of Conor Crook’s son of Rock N Roll Heaven and Village Glow last Saturday, and also the performance of Margaret Lee’s Jilliby Kung Fu-Keayang Kallisto gelding the following day.
Villarock and Keayang Shadowbox were both added to Rail’s Blackbook this week, along with Slice Of Cheddar and Cornishtown Kid.
TRIAL REPORT
STAWELL 06/06/24
Trial 2: - ALIFETIMEFORLIVING is a juvenile filly by Soho Tribeca out of Oneminutetodream (1.57.0, $28,048) making her a half sister to Reckless Dream (1.56.3, $26,074) and Letsgocaptain (2.1.0, $6,180). She is prepared by Kerryn Manning and was able to win her qualifying trial by a large margin over the trotter SHOW ME THE MOOLAH with YANKEE MOJOH being the third horse across the line. ALIFETIMEFORLIVING will be making her debut at Horsham on Monday afternoon and SHOW ME THE MOOLAH will be competing at the same meeting.
Mile Rate: - 2.5.1 Last Half: - 60.5 Margins: - 16.5m, 5.5m
SHEPPARTON 06/06/24
Trial 1: - The free for all pacer SERG BLANCO NZ was clearly the class runner of the field and had no trouble in scoring. He led throughout and recorded a slick final half of 55.5 seconds. SASSINESS finished second after trailing the leader and DELIGHTFULL TAMMY was last of the three runners throughout. SASSINESS will resume from a spell at Shepparton tonight and is not without a chance.
Mile Rate: - 1.58.1 Last Half: - 55.0 Margins: - 20m, 15m
Trial 2: - CALEXICO continued his good trial form with another tidy display. He led out then took cover and ended up being three back on the markers before commencing his winning run from the 500m mark. MOMENTUM SHIFT finished in second after working past CALEXICO early then taking the trail behind NOELS GIFT, which became the third leader of the race in a short space of time. THE ULTIMATUM used an inside run from four back on the markers to finish in third with NOELS GIFT being the fourth horse to cross the line. MOMENTUM SHIFT will be making his debut at Bendigo on Tuesday night.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.3 Last Half: - 58.0 Margins: - 5m, 4m
Trial 5: - ISLAND MELIA trailed the leader and used the sprint lane to dash through and get the prize. APIECEOFLOU was four back on the inside, moved into the one out and one back trail at the 400m mark and came out three horses wide on the home turn. He found the line well to fill second spot and will be competing at Wagga this afternoon. CORNISHTOWN KID was third after being three back on the markers, commencing a run at the 400m mark and colliding with the early leader HUNTERS FOLLY on the home turn. He broke stride momentarily at that point and did well to regather momentum, getting beaten by less than a length on the line.
Mile Rate: - 2.5.0 Last Half: - 59.5 Margins: - 1m, Neck
BACCHUS MARSH 08/06/24
Trial 1: - VILLAROCK is a Conor Crook trained gelding by Rock N Roll Heaven out of the fast mare Village Glow (2.0.0, $79,828), making him a close relation to six winners including the $100,000+ earners Grinvil (1.53.3), Firenglow (1.52.6) and Villacci (1.54.0). He recorded handy time in his trial victory and is nicely bred so he might be worth following. He makes his debut at Bendigo on Tuesday night. EARS THE BOSS was second past the post with JAMALA KHAN being a large distance away in third position.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.4 Last Half: - 60.5 Margins: - 8m, 50m
BLACKBOOKER: - Villarock
Trial 3: - RAKERO BLAZE NZ hasn’t raced since failing to finish and being stood down to trial back in February. She was able to take out the third event from the consistent performer INMYDREAMS with AMUNET being a length away in third position. The last start Cranbourne winner ROCKY VALLEY was last of the four runners to cross the line then backed up with his performance at Melton on Thursday night, where he finished in seventh position. The second placed INMYDREAMS is scheduled to compete at Cranbourne on Sunday.
Mile Rate: - 2.7.0 Last Half: - 60.0 Margins: - Nose, 3m
Trial 4: - MISTER HUNTER is a classy pacer, which won the 2022 Gold Bullion Final then followed a year later with a third in the 3yo section of the series. He hasn’t raced for over a year but was able to defeat a handy field in the trial by a comfortable margin. SPICEY MAJOR hasn’t started since finishing tenth in the Breeders Crown Final back in November but will return to the race track at Cranbourne on Sunday. He was second across the line ahead of ANDREW with IMPERIALS REASON, which has joined trainer Tyrone Abela since her last run back in July 2023, being last of the four runners across the line. ANDREW backed up with his performance at Melton on Thursday night, where he finished in seventh against a strong line up.
Mile Rate: - 2.3.6 Last Half: - 58.1 Margins: - 5m, 8m
Trial 6: - LADY IN LINE hasn’t raced since finishing sixth at Cranbourne in December. She boasts a consistent record and was able to post reasonable time in her trial victory so she might be in for a good campaign. WHY NOT DREAM finished in second position and was well clear of the third placed BLISSFULL LILLY. BLISSFULL LILLY backed up with a game victory at Melton on Wednesday night, which adds further merit to the winning performance of LADY IN LINE. The Tatlow Stakes runner up FREE TO PLAY finished in fourth and was one of several runners that was formerly prepared by Emma Stewart and is now being prepared by Tyrone Abela that performed at the trials on the day.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.9 Last Half: - 61.1 Margins: - 8m, 12m
Trial 8: - COMPETE has joined Tyrone Abela since finishing fifth in the Super Series Bronze event in September. He boasts a career best mile rate of 1.53.9 so he is a very smart pacer when racing at his peak and he was able to win his trial over ROCKNROLL GRONK by a narrow margin. ROCKNROLL GRONK backed up at Melton on Wednesday night and went down fighting when a brave second. SUNRISE RUBY finished in third position and KHANS CREED was last of the four runners across the line. SUNRISE RUBY is racing at Cranbourne on Sunday and KHANS CREED backed up three days later at Bendigo, where he finished in eight position.
Mile Rate: - 2.4.2 Last Half: - 59.1 Margins: - ½ head, 4m
TERANG 09/06/24
Trial 1: - KEAYANG GUCCI is a very smart mare when she is able to put it together but she has galloped several times in her nine starts career to date. She did everything right in the trial and was very impressive after coming from last of the four runners and zooming down the outside. LADY SUSPICIOUS is an unraced filly for trainer John Meade, which showed a lot of potential. She began swiftly to lead clearly and battled on well at the finish. She is by Skyvalley and the second dam Glory Girl produced five winners including the outstanding performers Crescent Glory (2.0.7, $149,911) and Glorious Finale (2.2.0, $101,514). FONDA RHONDA was backing up from an unplaced effort in a Stawell trial on Thursday and was third across the line after trailing the leader throughout.
Mile Rate: - 2.7.4 Last Half: - 60.5 Margins: - 10m, 10m
Trial 2: - KEAYANG BLUE JEANS won the Argent 3yo Classic last season and hasn’t raced since being unplaced in a heat of the Breeders Crown in November. She led throughout to win the trial from ROADMASTER, which settled three back on the inside before making a move at the 600m mark. ROADMASTER is competing in a heat of the Metropolitan Pace series at Melton on Saturday night. JOELITA settled down last of the four runners and followed behind ROADMASTER before switching into the sprint lane in the home straight. She finished third with DOITSON NZ being last of the four runners after trailing the leader throughout.
Mile Rate: - 2.4.2 Last Half: - 56.2 Margins: - ½ head, 4m
Trial 3: - KEAYANG SHADOWBOX is an unraced 3yo gelding by Jilliby Kung Fu out of the classy mare Keayang Kallisto (1.54.0, $72,745), whose first foal Keayang Jigsaw (1.59.9) has already won a race. He trailed the leader early before circling around to find the lead with a mile remaining and slipped home in slick final sectionals to win comfortably. KEAYANG MOJO led out then took cover and finished in second with ALL BLAZING GUNS being last of the three runners throughout. KEAYANG SHADOWBOX will be making his debut at Horsham on Monday while KEAYANG MOJO is making his first race track appearance at Bendigo on Tuesday night.
Mile Rate: - 2.4.9 Last Half: - 56.8 Margins: - 6m, 25m
BLACKBOOKER: - Keayang Shadowbox
Trial 4: - KEAYANG TACO is an unraced 3yo gelding by Sweet Lou out of the fast mare Keayang Torah (1.57.1, $53,240) and is the second foal with the first foal Keayang Froggy (2.1.0) being a race winner. He settled four back on the inside, was aided by the leader SWEET IDEAL galloping in the backstraight and was able to get underneath of BROWNIESATMIDNIGHT (third pegs, without cover at 600m) before the home turn. He finished off best with BROWNIESATMIDNIGHT being a narrow second and WHITE LION was a distant third after trailing the leader throughout. The early leader SWEET IDEAL ran last of the four but she motored down the back straight and was well clear of her rivals when she broke stride at the quarter pole. Both the winner KEAYANG TACO and the runner up BROWNIESATMIDNIGHT will be competing at Horsham on Monday afternoon.
Mile Rate: - 2.0.6 Last Half: - 56.5 Margins: - Neck, 40m
MARYBOROUGH 09/06/24
Trial 1: - LUDACROUS was able to continue her impressive run of form with an all of the way victory in the opening trial, where she dashed home in a slick final quarter of 27.8 seconds. She appears to be a strong chance at Melton tomorrow night. SLICE OF CHEDDAR raced behind the leader throughout but chased very gamely and beat the remainder of the field by a large margin. Considering his National Rating is 57 and the winner LUDACROUS has been very competitive at Metropolitan level recently, his trial effort was full of merit and he is worth following. He is competing at Horsham on Monday. JAMES GARNER NZ was last of the four runners on settling down, pulled hard and worked into a distant third ahead of VAPAR BRENDA (3 back markers). JAMES GARNER NZ will also be competing at Horsham on Monday.
Mile Rate: - 1.59.7 Last Half: - 55.9 Margins: - 4m, 30m
BLACKBOOKER: - Slice of Cheddar
Trial 3: - AMPHIJET hasn’t raced since finishing ninth at Mildura in October. She trailed the leader BETTER SAINT, came to the outside with 500m remaining and finished off best to gain the prize. BETTER SAINT battled on reasonably well for second and will be backing up at Mildura this afternoon. EYE ON YOU filled third spot after settling three back on the inside and waiting for the sprint lane. She is backing up at Bendigo on Tuesday night.
Mile Rate: - 2.4.2 Last Half: - 58.9 Margins: - 3m, 1m
Trial 6: - RENNIE TIN TIN is an unraced juvenile filly by Tintin In America out of Rennie Sivad NZ (1.54.1, $22,104), which raced in Queensland throughout her Australian career. She showed good gate speed to lead and was able to finish off in slick final sectionals to win by a large margin over IM PRINCESS NELLIE, which settled three back on the inside and worked home reasonably well. PRINCESS ALEXANDRA settled last of the four runners and worked into third ahead of SHEROCKSMYWORLD (trailed leader).
Mile Rate: - 2.5.0 Last Half: - 57.2 Margins: - 20m, 5m
WARRAGUL 10/06/24
Trial 1: - LADY BLOOMFIELD is a beautifully bred mare being by Always B Miki out of the top race mare Jazzam (1.53.6, $231,415), which has produced four winners including Rocknroll Pearl (1.51.7, $92,100). She was able to defeat the two trotters comfortably and recorded reasonable time. ADJURE finished in second with BETSY ANNE being last of the three runners across the line.
Mile Rate: - 2.2.9 Last Half: - 58.7 Margins: - 16m, 51m
SHEPPARTON 11/06/24
Trial 1: - SERG BLANCO NZ led throughout in his trial victory five days earlier but adopted different tactics for the same result in the opening trial. He settled last of the three runners, purposely went very wide on the track with three hundred metres remaining and was able to grab victory on the line. CORNISHTOWN KID trailed the leader and pulled very hard throughout. He came to the outside and tried to sprint with SERG BLANCO NZ over the concluding stages, going down by a slender margin. He will be taking on much easier opposition at Bendigo on Tuesday night so he is worth following. The early leader NELSON BAY was eight metres away in third position.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.0 Last Half: - 58.6 Margins: - Head, 8m
BLACKBOOKER: - Cornishtown Kid
Trial 2: - CROCODILE SOCKS emulated the achievement of Serg Blanco NZ by winning both of his trials at Shepparton during the week. He trailed the leader, came to the outside at the 500m mark and sprinted sharply to win comfortably from BACK PAGE WRITER, which settled down five back on the markers and finished off well out three horses wide from the 300m. SUPER SUSPECT settled four back on the markers before commencing a run with 600m remaining and battling on fairly well in the straight for third. She will be backing up at Bendigo on Tuesday night. The early leader FLIP A COIN was fourth across the line.
Mile Rate: - 2.1.3 Last Half: - 61.0 Margins: - 12m, head
Trial 5: - ESS KAY HOLLYWOOD hasn’t raced since finishing tenth in the Breeders Crown Final back in November but he appeared to be very sharp in his victory over ZINGARA LASS, where he led throughout and was untouched going to the line. ZINGARA LASS trailed the leader throughout and even though she had every chance, it wasn’t a bad performance considering she has a very low National Rating of 39. MISS FRANCENE galloped in the score up, missed the start by approximately 50m and did a very good job to pick up the pack then finish off well for third position.
Mile Rate: - 2.7.6 Last Half: - 61.5 Margins: - 8m, 2m
