Vinnie to take another shot at metro glory in Rising Stars Final

Sam Barker is hoping to wipe away the disappointment of last month when he lines up Ultimate Vinnie in this Saturday night’s Benstud Standardbreds Rising Stars Pace Final at Melton.

The young Ballarat-based trainer-driver landed the biggest victory of his career on October 21 when the four-year-old flashed home along the sprint lane to claim the $20,000 Woodlands Stud Pace at big odds.

Or at least he thought.

Barker and Ultimate Vinnie were eventually stripped of the race when Rodney Petroff, the driver of runner-up Major Delico, successfully protested against the winner, who was relegated to second for racing inside the marker pegs along the home straight.

It was a bitter blow for Barker, but he remains confident the son of Alta Christiano has what it takes to prevail at metropolitan level.

“He’s going to need the right run, but I definitely think he can win one. I can’t see why not,” Barker said.

While he’s optimistic about a metro triumph, Barker is realistic about Ultimate Vinnie’s chances in Saturday night’s Group 3 feature.

He ran a nice second to Hector in a heat of the Rising Stars series at headquarters last week, but will have to overcome a wide back row draw to take out the $30,000 final this weekend.

“Last week, I think he definitely got the harder heat and we ran second. I know we probably had the run of the race, but so did The Wolf really. He got his own way out in front and we beat him.

“It’s going to be hard this week. The two horses to beat (Hector and The Wolf) are drawn the front line and we are on the back line.

“We will just go back and come with one run. Hopefully Mark Pitt (The Wolf) lets them slide a little bit because I’m guessing he will find the front.

“It’s going to be awfully hard this week drawn where we are. It’s hard enough to win from a good draw, let alone a bad one.”

Ultimate Vinnie has long shown ability much greater than his $700 price tag would suggest.

He won by a big margin as a two-year-old on debut at Bendigo in late 2020, and ran sixth two starts later in the Group 1 VHRC Caduceus Classic behind Bondi Lockdown.

Since then, he’s continued to race well and now boasts a record of six wins and 12 placings from 33 career starts.

“I’d say he’s going at peak form now,” Barker said.

“I honestly reckon he’s just starting to learn to race. Even the other day, (driver) Bailey (McDonough) said when he came out he still probably got lost a little bit. He still hasn’t really learnt that craft yet.

“If I had my time again, I probably would have driven him different early on in his career to try and teach him instead of just going forward all the time.”

Barker said a shot at the Vicbred Super Series in December was the main goal for Ultimate Vinnie, who is owned by Taylah Markham.

McDonough will drive the horse in Saturday night’s Rising Stars Pace Final, which is race seven on Melton’s eight-event card.