A battle of country cup kings headlines Sunday’s race card at Wangaratta, where Fratellino and King Denny will continue their spirited Maori’s Idol Trotting Championship battle.
Sunday may well be a tipping point in the $10,000 championship, which sees competitors amass points throughout 24 Victorian cups.
Fratellino’s eight country cups this season has seen the Shaun McNaulty trained trotter shoot to the top of the standings, with his 18 points one clear of King Denny, the stable star of Ararat couple Michael Gadsden (trainer) and Denbeigh Wade (driver).
Fratellino is off 10m in the 2615m standing start, off the same line as favourite Jerichos Trumpet with King Denny a further 10m back.
The Yarrawonga Refrigeration and Airconditioning Wangaratta Trotters Cup is the feature of the eight-race card, which kicks off at 6.15pm and should be a great community day, according to club secretary Bernadette Costantino.
She said Sunday was the first of two big meetings for the club this year, with racing fans to return to Alvin Park Raceway for the March 10 pacing cup.
“We returned initially with one meeting, which we held in March over the Labor Day weekend,” Ms Costantino said.
“That’s been extremely successful for us and we were lucky enough to secure a second meeting, which is now the Australia Day weekend.
“This year we have been allocated the Sunday twilight, so we are lucky enough to have that long weekend again, which no doubt helps us with our crowd.
“Last year we had around 1000 people, so that was pretty good and hopefully being the Sunday we will have at least again that for our trotters’ cup.”