Talented Terang pacer Keayang Steamer resumes from a long spell in Sunday’s Central Goldfields Shire Maryborough Pacing Cup.
At his best Keayang Steamer was able to upstage superstars like Smoken Up and Melpark Major, getting the better of Trigger in the 2014 Horsham Cup and toppling Melpark Major a couple of weeks later at Melton.
But the son of Riverboat King has only graced the starter twice in 14 months and is first up since February this weekend, so it’s a case of “fingers crossed” rather than taking grand expectations into the race for trainer Marg Lee.
“He’s shown what he can do, so we’ve got our fingers crossed and we’ll take each race as it comes,” she said.
“He’s done a lot of fast work over the distance without fully putting the pressure on him.”
The impressive gelding has won 16 races from 38 starts for $210,043 prizemoney and will be aimed at next year’s Sumer of Glory carnival all going well.
But it is a case of baby steps for the time being, according to Lee, who said Keayang Steamer wasn’t strong enough in his “back, stifles and quads” last time in.
“His quads needed a lot of bulking up. He’s been doing a lot of riding and a lot of hill work here,” she said.
“He’s had three trials and we’re happy enough with where he’s at. It was just a matter of finding a suitable race and with Arden Rooney and Flaming Flutter not in it we decided to go here.”
Keayang Steamer will start from a 10-metre handicap alongside Exciteusinthecity in the $30,610 Group 3 Maryborough feature.
Lara’s Dean Braun has polemarker Macho Comacho in the field and will be hoping the stand-start specialist gelding can improve on a first-up 11th in the Swan Hill Pacing Cup.
Brent Lilley-trained Lets Elope has gate three after a big third at Swan Hill, while Glenn Douglas-trained stablemates The Dip (gate four) and Skippy Rascal (six) will be split by Vince Vallelonga’s last-start M1-M2 winner Manuka Man.
Keith Cotchin will present country cups specialist Road To Rock after it ran fifth in the Swan Hill feature, while Matthew Craven-trained Changing Code has barrier eight, Craig Demmler’s Charlie Machsheen will come out of gate nine, Tim Bolitho-trained Arber will start from 10 and Geoff Lucas-trained Daylight Dan has barrier 11.
Kerryn Manning’s in-form six-year-old Jaccka Art is the emergency.
Meanwhile, the popular TrotsCruiser will be in attendance at Maryborough with showbags for people who enter the “Drive Away in the Trotscruiser” promotion.
HRV and the TAB will also be giving away a $1000 bet on the Cup via the Trot Selfies competition.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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