By Adam Hamilton
MIGHTY mare Frith certainly won’t get things all her own way in the next two feature mares’ races in Perth.
While Frith had the night off last Friday, her major rivals for the next two features did battle in the Parliamentarians Cup ag Gloucester Park.
The race went to classy local Leda McNally, who led throughout, but it was runner-up Berisari who turned most heads.
The Emma Stewart-trained Berisari, just second-up from a spell, did a remarkable job to come wide and charge home for a close second in a 56sec flat last half.
“She went enormous,” driver Nathan Jack said. “It was hard to make ground on the night and she came from a mile back and almost got up to win.
“It was an improvement on her first-up run and it’ll bring her on again.”
Frith and Berisari will clash in Friday night’s $50,000 Norms Daughter Classic over 1730m where the barrier draw will be crucial.
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FORMER superstar juvenile Bling It On continues to make his mark in open-class ranks.
Freshened after a successful Queensland campaign, Bling It On returned with a slick win in the Group 3 Tony Turnbull free-for-all (1609m) at Menangle last Saturday night.
Bling It On had a perfect trail one-one on the back of Freyberg and just did enough to beat him by a half-neck in a 1min51.4sec mile.
The other feature of the night went to the Darren Hancock-trained On Thunder Road, who overcame a 30m handicap tinw the Group 3 Tabcorp Trotters Spring Cup (2300m).
Another notable Menangle winner was buzz mare Bon Accord Gal, who paced a 1min52.9sec mile to win by 17.3m in the second event.
Many believe she will be a major player in the big mares’ races later this season.
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FORMER French trotter Used To Me has quickly emerged as a potential major player in the biggest trotting races.
The Anton Golino-trained entire came to Australia to chase last season’s Great Southern Star, but a setback sidelined him.
Now he’s back and made it two wins from as many Aussie runs when he led throughout in the Group 3 Chris How Trotters’ Cup (2240m) at Melton last Friday night.
Driver Greg Sugars cruised through a 62.9sec middle half, but Used To Me unleashed closing splits of 55.9 and 27.8sec to win.
“He won really well first-up in an easier race, but this was another important step and he did it well,” Sugars said.
“He’s got plenty of speed and should just keep improving.”
The effort of the rejuvenated Kyvalley Blur to come out of the one-one and get within a half-neck of the winner was terrific given the closing splits.
It was an all international finish with Used To Me born in France and Kyvalley Blur coming from North America.
The other main trotting race on the night went to Nicole Molander’s former Kiwi trotter Dead Cat Bounce.
The six-year-old mare galloped at her first Aussie run, but has now won two in good style since.
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TRAINER Marg Lee has no regrets about bypassing the Perth Inter Dominion with her star duo Keayang Steamer and Keayang Cullen.
Lee felt both hadn’t had ideal preparations and wouldn’t have thrived on the tight Gloucester Park track.
They stayed home in Victoria and Keayang Steamer won last Friday night’s Sokyola Sprint in tough style in a 1min53.1sec mile rate for 1720m.
Keayang Cullen also ran a fantastic race after burning early from a back row draw to find the lead and holding on well for third.
On the same night, the emerging Barimah won narrowly but impressively in the Group 3 Gordon Rothacker Memorial Championship.
The Tony Peacock-trained gelding sat parked and dug deep when challenged to win by a neck in a 1min53.4sec mile rate for 1730m.
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HARNESS racing is prone to “in-fighting” so it’s great when you see two jurisdictions working closely together.
One exciting sample came last week when Harness Racing Victoria threw its arms around the struggling Canberra club and its Cup.
In a new format, the Canberra Cup field will be finalised through three qualifying heats, one of them in Victoria.
The first heat is at Canberra on January 19, the second at Victoria’s Shepparton track on January 28 then the last of them at Goulburn on February 1.
The $25,000 final is at Canberra on February 7 and includes a bonus for the winning trainer of a trip to the famed Little Brown Jug in Delaware, Ohio.
“It’s a great opportunity to help a club in need and for Canberra to come closer to HRV. Some of the trainers in Victoria will jump at this opportunity,” HRV CEO John Anderson said.
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TOP WA trainer Greg Bond has a Derby contender.
Bond’s former Kiwi gelding El Jacko made it four wins from as many WA runs when he sat parked and won brilliantly at Gloucester Park last Friday night.
The son of Elsu scorched home in 55.3 and 27secv flat to run past leader and favourite Franco Rayner and win by 1.4m in a 1min55.6sec mile rate for 1730m.
“He’s very good this one. I went into the race confident even though I knew he’d have to sit parked,” driver Ryan Warwick said.
Gary Hall’s recent Kiwi import Chicago Bull sat one-one at his WA debut and worked home quite well for third.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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