Avenel trainer David Aiken is chasing another big race win with trotter Big Jack Hammer in a features-filled Melton program tomorrow night.
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Coming off winning a $50000 mile event at the Miracle Mile meeting at Menangle last Saturday night, Big Jack Hammer will take on a much tougher assignment at Melton — the $100000 Group One Hygain Trotting Grand Prix.
His rivals include the rising star of Australian trotting Dance Craze and the champion Andy Gath-trained Tornado Valley, who is chasing his 10th consecutive win.
The Goulburn Valley-trained runners in the Group One, Big Jack Hammer and the David Abrahams-trained Fabrication, will be at generous odds due to tricky draws and the depth of the field.
Big Jack Hammer has drawn barrier three off the second row, while Fabrication has the inside second row alley.
Northern Victorian trainers are well represented in feature trotting events at the meeting.
Rochester-trained Moonshine Linda and the Euroa mare Princess Mila have the draws to run big races from barriers one and three respectively in the $50000 Breed For Speed Gold Series for trotting mares.
Kyabram-trained Andyou also contests this race from barrier five.
Kyabram-trained mare Getthenet has made the final of the Breed For Speed Silver Series final and will come from gate six, while Elmore mare Jay Bee Flex has drawn the inside of the second row in this race.
Apple Isle raid
David Aiken has a busy weekend coming up.
Apart from Big Jack Hammer at Melton, he will also be represented by Shelby Bromac in a heat of the Tasmanian Cup in Hobart on Sunday night.
A winner of his past five starts, Shelby Bromac has drawn ideally in barrier two and in his heat bumps into fellow Victorians War Dan (barrier three) and Sicario (eight) over the testing 2579m journey.
Also on Sunday night Aiken will line-up three-year-old Tidal Surge in the time-honoured George Croxford Tribute at the Wangaratta Pacing Cup meeting.
Tribute Art attack
The pacing cup and the George Croxford Tribute are the two features at Sunday’s Wangaratta meeting.
The $25000 Croxford Tribute for three-year-old looks to be at the mercy of the brilliant Laura Crossland-trained Lochinvar Art, who has to overcome a second row and some classy performers, but looks up to the challenge.
He has been competing against Australia’s top three-year-olds with distinction during the past month with placings in the Victoria and NSW derbies.
Crossland also has Vena May in the race which holds plenty of district interest.
Amanda Turnbull is represented by Young Rooster and David Aiken has Tidal Surge poised to give plenty of cheek from barriers one and two respectively, while Elmore trainer Keith Cotchin lines up Rossini from an outside front row draw.
In the $14500 Wangaratta Pacers Cup the Wayne Potter-trained Shadow Reign has to overcome a second row draw, but still looks a top each-way chance, while the Bryan Johnstone-trained A Special Dream and the resuming Col Duncan-prepared Zuberi will also carry the hopes of a Goulburn Valley win in the race.
Out to Buster rivals
Kima Frenning and her star pacer Buster Brady are not letting the grass grow under their feat.
After campaigning at Menangle the past two weekends, the pair will be chasing today’s $35000 Maryborough Pacing Cup.
Buster Brady put in another creditable run in the Free-For-All at Menangle last Saturday night, beaten into sixth place, but only 6m from the Inter Dominion runner-up Our Uncle Sam.
Buster has drawn barrier two off the second row, but will start a hot favourite in today’s race.
Frenning has big weekend coming up, heading to Brisbane tomorrow to compete with fellow Victorian Kerryn Manning in the Australian Female Drivers Championship at Albion Park tomorrow night.
Desire satisfied
Kyabram-trained Tillys Desire went one better than her Gunbower Cup day heat second when he took the final at last week’s Shepparton meeting.
The lightly raced five-year-old Real Desire mare was having just her second start for trainer Brent Thomson and only her sixth trip to the races.
She had finished second to Terrorleen in her heat for C0 class pacers at Gunbower, but was urged straight to the front by reinsman John Caldow in the final at Shepparton and led throughout.
Tillys Desire was bred by the late Darren McGill and is raced by members of the McGill family.
The win also completed an early driving double at the meeting for Caldow, who kicked things off with a win on the favourite Messerati, who is prepared by his wife Maree.
First-up knack
Shepparton trainer Laura Crossland has a happy knack of winning first-up with horses who join her stable and last week at Shepparton was no exception.
Crossland produced former NSW-trained pacer Kinetic Kate for a first-up win at the meeting.
The four-year-old Rock N Roll Heaven mare had not won for nine starts on NSW tracks before joining the Crossland stable, but did have some form with a win and four minor placings from 16 starts.
Crossland made her move just before the bell in the 1690m C0 Only class race and out-toughed the pacemaker and favourite Im Joey Jones with the Glenn Freeman roughie Cadillac Rock filling the minor placing in the run to the judge.
A jealous streak
She Envy is a pacer making a fist of her second time at the David Aiken Avenel stables.
The mare has won three her past four starts, the latest coming last week at Shepparton.
Aiken-trained and Kima Frenning-driven mare was too good for her rivals in a C4-C5 class race, despite a second row draw.
The four-year-old Rock N Roll Heaven mare won in what was a district training trifecta with the Laura Crossland-trained and driven mare Elianna Franco runner-up and the Isabel Walsh-prepared Stratospheric a close-up third.
Since rejoining the Aiken barn She Envy has now won five of her 11 starts with three second placings.
Bred, owned and raced by Benstud Standardbreds, She Envy had her first 12 race starts under Aiken, but then campaigned in the Sunraysia area and in South Australia where she won six races.
Fine nine for Prince
Kyabram trainers and owners have had a big week, including two winners at Maryborough on Monday.
Mick Blackmore produced trotter Claudys Prince for his second win in his past three starts which went down pretty well with his breeder and part owner I can assure you.
It was up there with the best of Prince’s nine wins to date as he beat a classy, long odds-on favourite Stress Factor, last year’s Victoria Derby and Breeders Crown winner.
‘‘He’s no Claudys Princess (full sister), but he’s a very smart trotter and on his work I was confident he would run a big race,’’ Blackmore said.
Orlanda Jolt, a three-year-old trotter who has Kyabram owners Phillip and Trudi Laidlaw, Terry Gregory and Geoff Berry in the syndicate which races him, also had a good win at the meeting.
Another Kyabram trainer Gary Payne enjoyed a win on Tuesday night at Shepparton, taking the honours in a three-year-old race with Lord Commander who he also reined to victory.
A 12-1 chance, Lord Commander had not run a place in his previous six outings, but had not finished further back than sixth.
Having only his eighth start the son of Village Jolt finished powerfully to pip the Brett Bunfield-trained Suresoundslikealie in a local quinella.
It was a lean night for district-trained horses with Lord Commander the only Goulburn Valley-prepared horse to win at the meeting.
But one of the winners, two-year-old Sanday, who was impressive on debut for top trainer Andy Gath, has a strong district connection being bred by Shepparton’s Heath Barton and owned and raced by Rushworth’s Greg and Denise Muir.
‘Snooze’ doesn’t lose
Bendigo horseman Chris Svanosio was the star of Tuesday’s Shepparton meeting with a training treble and a driving double.
Svanosio was in the money early, winning in a tight finish with Majestic Devil who notched his third win from 10 starts.
He then partnered another of his team of talented trotters Kyvalley Finn to win the other trot on the program.
And he also trained the winner of the feature event, The Nic Dewar Memorial, with the short priced favourite Major McCrae who was driven to victory by Blake Micallef.
Brother she’s quick
Love You mare Amour De Frere gave the track record a nudge in claiming a heat of the Lyn McPherson Breed for Speed Silver Series for trotting mares at last week’s Shepparton meeting.
The Anton Golino-trained and Jason Lee-driven four-year-old produced a sizzling 1:56.5 mile rate for the 1690m dash which was just 0.3 of a second outside Vics Cheval’s 1:56.2 track record for the trip.
In the Breed For Speed Gold Series the David Jack-trained, driven and owned Princess Mila prevailed in a thriller, getting up to beat the longshot Fear Not, who made a bold bid to lead all the away, with the $1.30 favourite Moonshine Linda a close-up third.
Princess Mila, a four-year-old daughter of top sire Majestic Son, has now had three wins from five starts this campaign and now boasts seven wins and 10 placings from 30 starts and stake earnings of more than $62000.
Grand opening time
After two test runs, Wagga’s new racetrack — Riverina Paceway —will be officially opened with a meeting on Sunday.
Kyabram trainer Mark Watson and Bendigo’s Glenn Douglas will fly the flag for Victoria.
Watson will be attempting to complete a hat-trick of wins with three-yea-old Prosecco Boy who has saluted at Bendigo and Gunbower at his past two starts, but has to contend with an extreme outside second row draw.
Douglas will line-up three pacers at the meeting.
Chevy is revving
Hamilton can mount a strong claim to boasting the quickest track in Victoria.
The Western District circuit produced a 1:50.6 winner when the Margaret Lee-trained and Jason Lee-driven Jilliby Chevy won the Glenn Miles Memorial Mile there last Sunday.
The five-year-old Roll With Joe gelding left his rivals standing in the track record-breaking win.
Jilliby Chevy has been no slouch in his 21-race career winning nine of these starts, including a 1:53.9 previous career best time at Swan Hill last year.
Coming up
Today: Geelong (n).
Tomorrow: Melton (n).
Sunday: Wangaratta Cup (t), Birchip (d).
Monday: Horsham (d).
Tuesday: Kilmore (n), Albury (n).
Wednesday: Mildura (n).
Thursday: Bendigo (n).