LUKE McCarthy took time-out from his Breeders Crown preparation to deliver some great news.
His sidelined superstar Bling It On is making a much quicker and better recovery than expected from injuries sustained to both front knees in that horrific race fall at Albion Park a couple of months back.
“If you’d asked me a month ago and you’d seen the photos of his knees, you wouldn’t believe how he is now. It’s amazing,” he said.
“I really thought there was next to no hope of him racing again after what I saw, but now he’s exercising and getting fit again. He seems to have come through it without many mental scars as well, which is important.
“He’s mixing stud duties with his exercise, but the way he’s progressing he can step-up his work again in a another month or so.”
So how likely is a racetrack return and when?
“The way he’s going, he’ll be back at the races for sure,” McCarthy said. “The Perth Inter Dominion is too close. He’d need to be racing in October and he’ll only be getting serious in his work by that stage.
“I’d say he’s a chance of being part of the Victoria summer. We’d love to have a go at defending his Hunter Cup title.”
YOU can tell Lauren Tritton has a special affinity with buzz juvenile filly My Sweetchilliphilly.
So much so, she’s surprised plenty by returning to the sulky earlier than planned to drive the filly in Sunday’s Group 1 Breeders Crown final at Melton.
It was only a month ago yesterday (Tuesday) when Tritton became a mum for the first time. He and husband, Shaun, are the proud parents of Levi.
And Tritton hasn’t driven in a race since January.
“This wasn’t planned, but when the filly ran below her best and was beaten for the first time in her (Crown) semi last Saturday, Shane and I started to talking,” Tritton said.
“I know I’m ready for a drive here and there and I love this filly. It’s her biggest race of the season and I’m excited I’ll be part of it.”
Tritton only had her first trial drive back at Menangle yesterday (Tuesday) and won easily aboard The Traveller.
To cap her preparation for Sunday, she will take one drive – My Riviera Belle – at Melton on Friday night.
Tritton remains confident My Sweetchillphilly can turn her semi-final form around despite drawing the back row in the final.
“She’s a bit special. She just never looked happy or comfortable in the semi. It’s the first time she’s pulled in a race and I think panicked a bit, like she didn’t know what to do. I think she choked herself down,” she said.
“I’ll be letting her run her own race this week. If that’s going forward and letting her roll, then so be it.”
So that’s the racing side of things, but what about motherhood?
“Those first two weeks after having Levi were hell. I felt like death warmed-up, but then it quickly got better each day. Now I’m feeling good,” Tritton said.
“Levi is terrific. I could do with some more sleep, but all mums would say the same.”
LUKE McCarthy’s long-time and successful association with the Allstars barn has delivered him their three stables drives at Sunday’s stellar Breeders Crown meeting.
Initially, the plan was for Mark Purdon to return from the World Driving Championships in Canada and take the Group 1 drives at Melton on Sunday.
“Mark rang and chatted. He said if I could commit to driving all three in the finals and I wanted to stay on them, I could. I certainly wasn’t going to say no,” McCarthy said.
And that’s where it landed. McCarthy will take the reins on The More The Better, Partyon and Sicario – all major winning chances in their respective finals.
Let’s go through them one-by-one with McCarthy.
THE MORE THE BETTER
McCarthy says: “He’s really good. I wasn’t disappointed he just got rundown last week. Stars Align really annoyed him when he got fired-up on the outside in the middle stages. Then, looking back, I think I erred by letting him stride when I did. It allowed Our Little General to come to the outside instead of the sprint lane and it helped him. I thought I was best letting him roll, but if I had it over again, I’d have held him up and then kick again. He’s got the gate speed to use the pole and I think he’ll be very hard to beat. I do have a lot of respect for Motu Meteor and Stars Align, who will go better with a sit.”
PARTYON
McCarthy says: “Most would say the draws have given the race to Petacular, but I’m not so sure. I fancy my chances of making it a real race or maybe even beating her. I’ve had a fair bit to do with this filly through the year and I can honestly say this is the best I’ve seen her. I said after trackwork this morning (Tuesday) how great she felt. We know how good she is at her top and I think she’s right there.”
SICARIO
McCarthy says: “I wish he’d drawn the front. I can’t see how they’d have beaten him. Still, I really like him and, like Partyon, I think he’s at his absolute peak at the right time. He’s put on at least 15kgs since Australian Gold time. He’s a different horse. It’s going to be hard from the draw, especially if King Of Swing leads easily, but I still think he can make a great race of it even if I have to come around and sit parked. He’s still a winning chance if he has to do that.”
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
