Trots Centre: Trial Blackbookers floods tonight’s Shepparton meeting

It’s a Blackbook bonanza at Shepparton tonight with five runners stepping out who have been shortlisted in Craig Rail’s Victorian Trial File.

Ladies In Red, Amelia Rose, Do Not Surrender, Bettor Be Sorry (pictured) and Verry Cheerful all earned a place in the master race caller and form analyst’s Blackbook and step out tonight hoping to transform that trials promise into prize money.

Bettor Be Sorry is likely to draw most eyes, with the five-year-old who’s crossed from Emma Stewart’s stable to David Aiken’s scintillating when he dominated the star-studded sixth trial at Kilmore on August 17.

Pitted against Out To Play, Malcolms Rhythm, Little Peanut and Pick Up Line, Bettor Be Sorry was a dominant force.

In his Trial File column, which appears on thetrots.com.au every Friday, Rail said Bettor Be Sorry had been “trialling impressively“, but his National Rating paled against others in this trial, “so to blow his rivals away indicates he will be very well placed when he next steps out on the track“.

Bettor Be Sorry got home in “a slick” 27.9 seconds in that trial and looks well placed to add a sixth win in his eighth outing tonight in the TAB Long May We Play Pace.

WATCH BETTOR BE SORRY’S KILMORE TRIAL:

Certainly he hasn’t been missed at the tab.com.au, with Bettor Be Sorry a $1.25 favourite on fixed odds, with Do Not Surrender second favourite at $6.50.

The latter, trained by Isabel Walsh and steered by Kima Frenning in tonight’s 59 to 70 pace, has been in Rail’s Blackbook since his July 30 trial at Shepparton, when he “settled down last on the markers, pulled hard and jogged through the middle in the latter stages to finish an eye-catching fourth, seemingly with plenty left in the tank“.

Since that trial he ran consecutive second placings at Shepparton on August 15 and 19 and drew the gate one draw tonight.

The first of Rail’s blaclkbookers to step out is Emma Stewart’s two-year-old debutant Ladies In Red, who contests the Your Sold Real Estate 2YO Maiden Pace at 6.01pm.

With Jodi Quinlan taking the reins, the Mach Three filly is out of Kabbalah Karen B, which makes her a full-sister of Our Little General ($685,795) and half-sister to Kasbah Kid ($157,620) for owner-breeder Lauriston Bloodstock. 

She caught the eye in her August 11 trial at Ballarat, when Rail noted she chased Blitzern “valiantly in good time” to finish within two metres of the trial winner and two metres ahead of third placed Tough Tilly, who have both broken their maiden status.

Another talented Stewart filly has caught Rail’s eye and steps out tonight in Amelia Rose, the terrific sit-sprint two-year-old who has already clocked up $79,620 in winnings, including a Breeders Crown semi-final victory.

She won her August 22 trial at Bacchus Marsh by 50 metres from free-for-al trotter Sammy Showdown, with Rail noting her “sensational final half of 55.9 seconds“. 

Both of the Stewart runners are tight in the tab.com.au market, with Ladies In Red enlisted a $1.45 fixed odds chance and Amelia Rose $1.35.

There’s even less value on offer for the last of Rail’s Blackbookers, with Verry Cheerful a $1.20 pop in the Guardian Security Services Trot, which closes out tonight’s eight-race program.

For trainer Russell Jack and reinswoman Amanda Turnbull, the four-year-old is first up in Australia after a New Zealand career that yielded four wins from 13 starts for Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen. 

Unraced since running 11th in the 3YO Ruby on June 1 last year, Verry Cheerful “produced a massive performance to win” at Shepparton on August 20, according to Rail.

“She broke stride at the start and was tailed off by approximately 60-70m early, tacked on to be fourth on the markers then rounded the field up to win effortlessly,” Rail said. “She built up a good record in New Zealand and will obviously win races in Australia.”

WATCH VERY CHEERFUL’S SHEPPARTON TRIAL:

Click here for Craig Rail’s latest Trial File column, with his updated Blackbooker, and be sure to keep an eye out Friday mornings for when the next column drops.

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