With two wins banked in Tuesday's two-year-olds heats, four steers in tonight's three-year-old heats and the biggest beast of them all on his way, this year's TAB Breeders Crown could well be a right royal affair for David Moran.
The Kialla trainer-driver takes the reins of Loorim Lake, favourite to win race three, amid an impressive card at Bendigo tonight, when the rich series continues its advance to the November 21 finals.
But it won't be just the two and three-year-olds in the headlines.
Moran partied hard and gave his superstar pacer Lochinvar Art a well-deserved break after their success in the Pryde's EasiFeed Victoria Cup last month, but now it's time to get back to business.
It looks likely that we'll see the four-year-old back at the races on Saturday, November 14, in the Preux Chevalier Free For All (2240m) at Tabcorp Park Melton before a run in one of two features the following week back at Victorian headquarters.
"He's basically ready to go again," Moran said. "He had seven days off after the Victoria Cup. He came back, jogged a week, had his week fast working and has been swimming a bit. He'll be back to the mark pretty quick."
After blowing out the cobwebs next weekend, Moran will then run Lochinvar Art in either the Group 2 $60,000 Ultimate Machete Breeders Crown Graduate Pacers Free For All (2240m) on November 20 or the Group 2 $50,000 Hygain Breeders Crown Championship (2240m) for the four-year-old entires and geldings the following night.
"It will be one of the two, but I haven't decided which one I'm going to go for just yet," he said.
Before getting the multiple Group 1 winner back to the track, Moran has a big night ahead at Bendigo where seven heats of the Breeders Crown Series take centre stage.
Moran has five drives this evening and has marked Russell Jack-trained Santa Casa Beach as the best of his chances.
MORAN'S ON HIS CHANCES TONIGHT:
RACE 2: IRT AUSTRALIA BREEDERS CROWN 3YO COLTS & GELDINGS (1ST HEAT)
RANGER BOMB (trained by Craig Cross)
"I think he'll be very hard to beat. (Willie Go West) seems a pretty nice and progressive horse, so it's probably the hardest to beat from the draw. And then you've got horses like Private Eye, whose form in NSW has been exceptional, (but) I think he'll be thereabouts anyway."
RACE 3: IRT AUSTRALIA BREEDERS CROWN 3YO COLTS & GELDINGS (2ND HEAT)
LOORRIM LAKE (trained by Emma Stewart)
"We're probably going to punch him off the arm as quick as we can and if he's able to hold the front he'll be very hard to beat."
RACE 5: PRYDE'S EASIFEED BREEDERS CROWN 3YO FILLIES (1ST HEAT)
ITS EBONYNIVORY (trained by John Yeomans)
"She seems to be a pretty nice filly. Obviously there's a couple in that race that go quite good. Shesskylah goes good, Starsbythebeach's run last week was good and then you've got Iolanta and Art Of Sheng Li, so it's a bit of a tricky race as to where she's going to be in the run. But if she's handy enough to them I think she's a definite place chance."
RACE 7: IRT AUSTRALIA BREEDERS CROWN 3YO COLTS & GELDINGS (3RD HEAT)
SANTA CASA BEACH (trained by Russell Jack)
"I think he'll be really hard to beat. His form has been pretty good around some nice horses in some strong company. I thought his run last week was really good. He sort of worked off the gate for a little bit and held the lead, handed up and he was pretty impressive running second.
"I thought he could probably find the front and take a little bit of catching."
RACE 11: BENDIGO SKI BOAT CENTRE PACE
LETHAL LOVER (trained by Susan Hunter)
"I spoke to Susan and Shane (Hunter) the other day and they said she's going really, really well. They said don't panic about the last couple of starts too much and she'll be a lot better (Friday) night. She strikes the right race with a good draw. She'll be very close to the mark there in a small field."
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