It was a matter of grind over manners at Maryborough as raw ability shone through in the Mimosa Homes Breeders Crown heats for two-year-old colts and geldings.
Hes Charlie Angel and Catch A Wave pulled their way to heat wins while Greg Sugars had quite the journey guiding Brutally Handsome to a maiden success amid an enthralling Sunday card.
The raceday perhaps posed more questions than it answered ahead of the November 20 finals at Tabcorp Park Melton, but the one surety is it’s going to be an enthralling $300,000 Group 1 showdown.
“That was a relief,” were David Miles' first words on TrotsVision after guiding Hes Charlies Angel to a hard-earned victory in the first heat for owner-trainer-breeder Charlene Gusman.
“He’s not an easy drive, he’s got a lot to learn,” he said. “He’s a bit boisterous and new to the game and not learning as quick as we’d hope, but he’s healthy and fit and at this time of the year if you are that way you can take these horses on.”
Hes Charlies Angel was bustled to the front from the gate and then hard held amid a 64.1-second first half, before stretching out in 28.5 and 26.7 quarters, with the latter brisk enough to hold off a late dive from Interest Free and secure the win.
“I was hoping I could get to the pegs and that he would corner better, which he definitely did,” Miles said. “Got a little wobbly turning for home, wanted to shift up the track a little bit.
“He’s just not cornering fantastic yet. He will in time, he’s just such a big, green, raw bugger – he’s just doing this on pure ability.”
Also advancing from the heat were Interest Free, Anotherbigman, My Ultimate Baxter, Mos London, Heza Son Of Agun, Jet Rock and Tims A Trooper.
Ability was also the defining factor for Catch A Wave but there was no breather in his performance, with Andy Gath's highly touted two-year-old a handful throughout for Kate Gath.
While he shot to the front and led, stewards reported he was fractious before the start and hung out in the score up, which earned him ODM (out of the draw mobile starts) status that could present a challenge as the series advances.
There was little respite in the run, with each quarter 29 seconds or less including a 27.1-second third quarter that broke open the field.
Catch A Wave had cleared out from the chasers coming off the final bend and while Muscle Bart and Lightning Dan made ground late they never threatened.
“Not much went right, but he still won, so that’s good,” Kate Gath told TrotsVision.
“He hung in bad in the Tatlow (Stakes last start). We put something on for that and now he’s decided to go the other way and run out.
“At home he doesn’t really do anything wrong … and it’s really hard to fix those ones when at home they are perfect.”
But with all that said he still recorded a five-metre win and will likely carry plenty of punters’ favour throughout the series.
“He’s just a little ratbag who doesn’t stand still, just a typical little toddler who’s super annoying,” Gath said. “Hopefully once he finishes this prep and has a spell he’ll be a little bit more mature, but who knows.
“His owners, Richard and Pauline Matthews, they’ve put a lot into the sport and it’s good to get a good horse for them and you just want to get the best out of them that you can.
“When they fire little tricks like that at you it does make you have to just be a bit of a challenge and to stop and think. He’s a good bodied horse, but in the mind he’s a little bit immature, but we’ve got a bit of time up our sleeve. We’ll change things again and hopefully he will be better next time.”
Joining Catch A Wave in advancing to the November 13 semi-finals were Muscle Bart, Lightning Dan, Beach Villa, Major Major, Captain Rival, Soho Dow Jones and Its A Sweet Life.
In between those two heats was an impressive win by Brutally Handsome in an eventful stoush that produced a thrilling result for co-trainers and part-owners AJ and Beau Tindale, whose colt was having his ninth career start and produced his first win off a superb Greg Sugars drive.
From five-wide off the gate Sugars managed to slip into three back on the pegs before moving to the running line when that became four back. He became exposed in the breeze when My Ultimate Billy advanced to the lead, but favourite Mahomes then popped out to provide cover.
Sugars settled in the one-one until last time down the back straight, when Star Burst Boy tired on his inside enabling him to take the back of leader My Ultimate Billy.
Just as all looked perfect heading into the final turn he locked wheels with Alex Ashwood (Lightning Jash), briefly losing ground before breaking free and zipping up the sprint lane to score by 1.3 metres from Flash Jimmy.
“That race had everything,” Sugars told TrotsVision. “I covered just about every position that’s possible in that race. That was great racing.
“He really felt strong when I switched to Anthony (Butt on My Ultimate Bully)’s back. He was travelling like a winner.
“Alby (Ashwood) and I locked wheels for a short bit around the turn, and I thought that’s our race over here. Thankfully they came apart, which quite often they don’t at that stage of the race, and to the horse’s credit he did a really good job to knuckle down in a quick quarter after copping a check half-way through it.”
The victory was a thrilling result for the Tindales, who cheered Sugars in post-race.
“They were bouncing up and down on the fence as I was coming up and AJ had a few tears there,” he said.
“She’d had a few things go wrong of late and their luck’s turning. They had a really good second last night in the St Arnaud Cup with Idealsomemagic and now this fella winning a heat of this today, that will mean a lot to them.
“They do a great job with their small, select team. It’s basically just them doing the hard yards, they do a terrific job for sure.
“This is a good race to be a part of, but to see their reactions and how happy they are it makes my day a lot better.”
They can now look forward to the semi-finals, as can fellow heat two qualifiers Flash Jimmy, My Ultimate Billy, Mahomes, Lightning Jash, Victory George, My Ultimate Skeeta and No Neigh Philtra.
The Breeders Crown series continues with Thursday’s heats for the two-year-old and three-year-old trotters at Maryborough.
The pacers return for semi-finals night on November 13 as combatants jostle for a berth in the rich November 20 finals.
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