By Adam Hamilton
THE kid gloves are coming off.
Trainer Steve O’Donoghue has superbly placed buzz pacer San Carlo through a record of 22 starts for 19 wins – the latest in career-best fashion and very slick time at Melton last Thursday night.
Now comes the big league. The really big league.
San Carlo’s next start will be against some of Australia’s best pacers in the $200,000 Group 1 Victoria Cup at Melton on October 14.
The Victoria Cup is two-fold for importance. It’s not just a huge race itself, but also the ideal vehicle for San Carlo to rise rapidly up the Perth Inter Dominion rankings and secure himself a spot in the series, which starts at Gloucester Park on November 24.
San Carlo sat parked outside and beat a former NZ Cup contestant Moonrock and ran quicker time than Major Crocker did winning the free-for-all on the same night.
San Carlo bludgeoned his way to a 1min54.6sec mile rate for 2240m, including closing splits of 56.0 and 28.4sec to beat Moonrock by 1.7m.
By comparison, Major Crocker was superbly driven to have a fairly economical run by Greg Sugars and beat a handy free-for-all field in a 1min54.8sec mile rate.
Major Crocker is another headed for the Victoria Cup, a race he ran second to Lazarus in last season.
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WHAT a marvel Maori Time is.
The classy and veteran mare posted her 22nd win and hit $363,501 in stakes with a dominant display in the Group 3 True Roman Trot (2240m) at Melton last Thursday night.
She’s a credit to trainer Brent Lilley, who took over from the now retired Chris Lang about three years ago.
Lilley snared the quinella when Sun Of Anarchy sat behind the leader and ran a clear second in a sizzling 56.8sec last half.
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MAKE no mistake, Soho Tribeca will be a player in the upcoming Perth Inter Dominion series.
Kim Prentice’s five-year-old returned from a break with the most dominant of wins at Gloucester Park last Friday night.
First-up since winning the Group 1 Vicbred final at Melton on July 8, Soho Tribeca sat parked outside the sensationally-backed Itz Bettor To Win and crushed it.
He posted a slick 1min55.3sec mile rate and ripped home in 56.7 and 28.6sec to post the 15th win of his 39-start career.
Soho Tribeca has already shown his potential at Grand Circuit level with placings behind Chicago Bull in the Fremantle and WA Pacing Cups earlier this year.
At the same meeting last Friday, Skye Bond’s talented free-for-aller Simply Susational narrowly, but impressively won the Media Guild Cup with Ryan Warwick in the bike.
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HARRY Martin won everyone’s hearts in his golden days of the early 2000s with Grand Circuit star Double Identity.
The great old horse raced 146 times for 51 wins, 39 placings and earned $1,255,647. His big wins included a Victoria Cup, Miracle Mile, SA Cup, Treuer Memorial and so many more.
Now Martin has another open-class player who has blossomed in his older years in Double Event, the eight-year-old who upstaged a strong field to win the Group 3 Les Chant in a blazing 1min50.6sec mile at Menangle last Saturday night.
The focus of the race was around whether former WA pacer Galactic Star could make it three wins from as many starts for new trainer Craig Cross, but he had to settle for third.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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