By Adam Hamilton
MIRACLE Mile winner My Field Marshal looks very likely to tackle the Perth Summer Carnival.
Trainer Tim Butt was thrilled with the star pacer’s Menangle trial last Tuesday and confirmed he would return to racing next Saturday night.
“I’m keen to have that race to absolutely decide if he goes to Perth or not, but at this stage it’s very likely,” he said.
“We’ll probably have a horse like Majordan to race at Menangle and I like that. He’s a really good benchmark, especially in the sprint races. If he run well against him or beat him, then it’s off to Perth for sure.”
Majordan blazed a 1min51.2sec for stand-in driver Danielle Hill to win easily again at Menangle last night.
My Field Marshal was given a long break after running way below expectations during the Queensland Winter Carnival.
“All the signs are he’s come back well and Perth is a good option,” Butt said.
“If he goes, he’ll head across with Galactic Star as he returns home after the Inter Dominion. I want him there early anyway.
“There’s a mile race (Celebrity Mile) on December 28 for him. I like them to have a race in Perth before the big ones to help settle them in.”
The Fremantle and WA Pacing Cups are the major targets.
In other stable news, Butt will run his other stable star Let It Ride in the free-for-all at Melton this Saturday night after his somewhat controversial Inter Dominion.
“I just have to cop it on the chin and move on and the free-for-all will be his next run,” Butt said.
“I thought about Perth, but I think he’ll stay here and go through the lead-up races for the Hunter Cup and then on to the Miracle Mile.”
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IF only the Inter Dominion had started a month later for former Kiwi pacer Buster Brady.
You would have to think he’d have been competitive and at least made the final on what he’s shown in just four Aussie runs for trainer-driver Kima Frenning.
After a powerhouse Geelong Cup win, Buster Brady went to a ho-hum Shepparton race last Wednesday night and sparkled, working his way to the front and dashing home in 54.3 and 26.2sec to win easily.
Frenning has no regrets about holding back from the Inter Dominion, but quickly added races like the Ballarat and Hunter Cups were definitely on the agenda.
“Next we go to the free-for-all on Inter Dominion final night this week. I’m told Let It Ride will be there as well, so it’s another step-up for us,” Frenning said.
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THERE was a strong thoroughbred connection to the huge upset win of Millview Sienna in the $125,000 Group 1 WA Mares’ Classic at Gloucester Park last Friday night.
The six-year-old daughter of Jeremes Jet, who saluted over WA’s best mares as a $90.90 outsider, is trained by Ray Williams, the father of Grant Williams, who is a leading thoroughbred trainer.
Grant and wife, Alana, are number one trainers for dominant breeder Bob Peters.
Millview Sienna also gave hard-working driver Aldo Cortopassi one of the biggest wins of his career when she overpowered star mare Eden Franco in a 1min57.8sec mile rate for the long 2536m trip.
On the same card, boom four-year-old Jack Mac returned to winning form in the Golden Nugget prelude, but pulled-up with an injury issue and will the Nugget itself next Friday night.
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STILL on the WA front and Gary Hall Sr had a positive update on his sidelined superstar Chicago Bull last week.
Still gutted over missing all these big races with a horse at the prime of his career, Hall Sr hopes Chicago Bull could be back racing in six months.
“You can’t get an exact diagnosis because it’s such an unusual and rare injury, but he’s moving a lot better now and seems really bright,” he said.
“At first they said it could be anywhere between six months to two years before he races again, but on what I’m seeing, it’ll be six months.
“He couldn’t lean forward to eat or canter when he first got back home, but it’s almost six weeks ago now and he’s moving really well.”
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THE boy thrashed the men in the Christmas Cup at Albion Park last night.
And the same could happen again when four-year-old Colt Thirty One tackles the Group 2 Queensland Cup at the same track again next Saturday night.
Trained and driven by Grant Dixon and raced by Kevin and Kay Seymour, Colt Thirty One stormed around the field to win running away by 3.3m in a 1min56.4sec mile rate for the long 2680m trip last night.
The son of Mach Three boasts 22 wins from just 32 starts and won the Victoria Derby as well as finishing second in the Breeders Crown final last season.
Colt Thirty One is yet another of a genuinely stellar list of Chariots Of Fire contenders this season, which includes Kiwis Spankem and Chase Auckland along with Aussies like Ride High, Poster Boy, Ignatius, Ana Malak and Mighty Conqueror
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TIM Butt makes no secret of the huge opinion he has of Bettermatch.
He toyed with an NZ Cup start and is adamant he will make a serious Grand Circuit horse, so winning a metro maiden race at Menangle last night was always going to be easy work.
Bettermatch won his heat of the Christmas Gift by 9.2m in a 1min52.5sec mile with stand-in driver Jimmy Rattray aboard.
Team Tritton won two of the four Christmas Gift heats with Lombo Idle Belief and Im The Director.
The other heat went to Kiwi visitor Hail Christian, who buzzed to the lead and won strongly for trainer Paul Court and driver Blake Fitzpatrick in a 1min52.7sec mile.
On what we saw in the heats, Bettermatch is definitely the one to beat in the final.
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JOT down Lochinvar Art as a serious Victoria Derby contender.
The Aussie TAB slashed his odds for the race from $26 to $10 after brilliantly won first-up against quality opposition in the Group 3 Caduceus Club Cup (2080m) at Cranbourne last night.
The son of Modern Art comfortably beat the previously unbeaten Demon Delight in a slick 1min55.9sec mile rate.
Lochivar Art gave Demon Delight the drag into the race, but dropped him for sheer speed on the final bend and held-on to win by almost four metres.
He showed plenty with six wins from just nine starts last season and connections contemplated a late payment for the Breeders Crown, but opted to give him a long spell instead.
Co-trainer and driver David Moran used the word “freak” after his Cranbourne win.
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MOMENTUM keeps building around Chris Lang Sr’s return to training ranks.
It’s only a few weeks since Lang Sr returned from four years out of the game and he’s already snared three wins from his small team of horses.
Former NSW trotter Miyabomba has won twice and the appropriately-named Gap Year, a son of Lang Sr’s former superstar Skyvalley, won at Melton last Friday night.
“It’s great to be back and I’m here for as long as you’ll have me know,” Lang Sr giggled.
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