Trots Centre: Can the luck of the Irishman continue?

Jimmy The Irishman’s meteoric rise through the ranks in his adopted home of Victoria has been quite remarkable.

Adam Kelly’s New Zealand import has strung together six-straight wins on Australian soil, with his streak starting at Mildura back in April before progressing to back-to-back metropolitan-level triumphs at his last two starts.

The success at Bendigo a fortnight ago was arguably his best yet, with regular driver Zac Phillips navigating a path off the fence in the home straight to run down Group 1 winner Bar Room Banta in a slick 1:54.0min mile rate.

But can and will the run of hot form continue? Answers to that very riddle were sought during this week’s edition of Burning Questions, where Phillips joined regular panel members Andy Gath, Nikkita Ross and Jason Bonnington to tackle some of the key conundrums that emerge from this Saturday night’s Geelong meeting.

“The draw has definitely helped him, (but) it’s definitely going to be a bit harder this week. As we all know, it only gets harder as they keep winning,” Phillips said.

“Draw looks to be in his favour and I wouldn’t say it’s any stronger than Bendigo, so if he was able to jump on the bunny – which I think he can – I think he’d take some running down that’s for sure.”

WATCH THE FULL EDITION OF BURNING QUESTIONS BELOW:

As mentioned, the barrier two draw has helped Jimmy’s chances on Saturday night, but just how much gate speed does the four-year-old possess if required?

“He always had terrific gate speed in New Zealand, and then just through bad draws or different circumstances, we weren’t able to use it,” Phillips said.

“So when he drew so well in that MO (at Melton) going back a couple of weeks ago, it didn’t look an overly fast front line so I didn’t really have to push him to where he was flat-out out of the gate, and he got out good enough then.

“If I really flatlined him out, I don’t think anything would cross him, put it that way.”

The rest of the Burning Questions panel think it’s Jimmy’s race to lose, with Gath, Ross and Bonnington all tipping him to win the Geelong – High Speed Racing Pace (1609m). No doubt horses such as Krafty Bart, Struve (both from the Emma Stewart yard) and Sahara Sirocco (Gary and Debbie Quinlan) will have something to say about that, but he is likely to run favourite in the race at 7.03pm.

Phillips has another key drive in one of the night’s main features, with Magicool resuming from a spell in the Group 3 Haras Des Trotteurs Wagon Apollo Trotters Free For All. Another highlight of the Geelong card is the Flying Brick Cider Preux Chevalier Free For All, which has been rescheduled from last weekend’s abandoned Cranbourne meeting.

Bonnington will join John Dunne to host the expanded Trots Vision coverage on thetrots.com.au, with plenty of additional input from caller Lachlan McIntosh.