By Adam Hamilton
JUST a week ago the Ameretto team dared to talk Inter Dominions and now we know why.
Beating “the girls” is one thing, but Ameretto took the next step by thrashing all-comers, including ageing champ Lennytheshark, in last night’s Golden Reign free-for-all at Melton.
Yes the race was put on for here when Lennytheshark and stablemate Im The Boss blazed through a 41.5sec lead time, but Ameretto zoomed to the front on the home bend to win by 11.1m in a flying 1min54.6sec mile rate for 2240m.
Just back on that lead time for a moment – it’s the fastest ever run at Melton and took 0.4sec off what The Gold Ace and Im Themightyquinn blazed in the 2012 Victoria Cup won by Caribbean Blaster.
So Im The Boss and Lennytheshark still did well to finish second and third respectively.
But this was Ameretto’s night and came just a week after she crunched Australia’s best mares in the Group 1 Queen of the Pacific at Melton.
Despite the latest win, trainers Kerryn Manning and Grant Campbell reaffirmed plans to stay in Victoria rather than chasing next month’s Len Smith Mile at Menangle or Queensland winter riches.
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TIM Butt opted to stick to Menangle rather than chase the slightly richer Newcastle Mile with his Miracle Mile winner My Field Marshal.
While the emerging Majordan blew his rivals away at Newcastle last night, My Field Marshal cruised to a 1min52.4sec mile win against a moderate bunch at Menangle.
It was just another step towards the Len Smith Mile then Queensland Winter Carnival.
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WHILE Aussie four-year-old mare Dance Craze prepares for the Harness Jewels, her baby sister La Grange kept the family flag flying at Menangle last night.
La Grange, by Muscle Hill out of former Rowe Cup winner La Coocaracha, comfortably won the $30,000 NSW 3YO Trotters’ final at Menangle.
She was the first leg of a feature Menangle double for trainer Anton Golino and driver Nathan Jack, who also combined to win the $30,000 2YO final with All Cashed Up (Ready Cash-Pepperell Magic).
Speedy Victorian mare Red Hot Tooth won the 4&5YO Trot at Menangle for trainer Kari Males and driver Zac Phillips.
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GLAMOUR combo Emma Stewart and Chris Alford strutted their stuff in Tasmania last Friday.
The main reason for the Launceston raid was the $40,000 Bandbox 3YO Fillies’ final which they won by a cricket pitch with Somebeachsomewhere filly Nostra Beach.
Nostra Beach won her qualifier by 49.2m at Launceston on May 14 then worked to front and won the final by 16.4m in a 1min57.7sec mile rate for 2200m. She’s won eight of her 14 starts and almost $240,000, mainly via last season’s Australian Gold 2YO final triumph.
Just for good measure, Alford and Stewart combined for another four wins on the night, making it five wins from their seven runners.
One of their winners worth following is definitely Ride High, a son of Art Major, who has won his only three starts by a thumping aggregate of 69.3 metres.
Insiders say the stable thinks Ride High has Group 1 potential.
There was also plenty to like about Another Safari’s powerhouse 25m win in the fast-class race where he took more than two seconds off the 2200m standing-start track record.
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FORMER Kiwi trotter Tornado Valley didn’t take to regain winning form.
He won seven on end and was ranked by many as Australia’s best trotter before a 10m handicap and tough run saw him tire late for a gallant third in the Group 1 Australasian Trotting Championship at Melton last Saturday week.
Six days later he again did all the work in a strong field and dug deep to win the Group 3 Jack Slack Trotters’ Memorial (2200m) at Ballarat.
Tornado Valley just held-off Fabrication, who ended his winning streak six days earlier.
The measure of the latest win was the fact Tornado Valley was three-wide for much of the trip in a sharp 1min59sec mile rate in cold conditions.
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HE is bred to be anything, his trainer “loves” him and the early signs are good.
That’s the story of Bletchley Park so far, who is the baby brother of Bling It On and half-sister to Miracle Mile winner Baby Bling.
The Mike Reed-trained son of American Ideal made it two wins from three starts when he used to lead throughout for a no-fuss Gloucester Park win last Friday night.
Shannon Suvaljko dictated terms in front and out-zipped and equally exciting Bitcoin in a cosy 1min59.4sec mile rate for 2130m.
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STILL at Gloucester Park and it great to see popular trio Vultan Tin, driver Chris Voak and trainer Phil Costello jag another win.
The gelding ran the race of his life when fourth to Lazarus in the Perth Inter Dominion last December. This was his fourth win since.
Voak threw everything at Vultan Tin at the start and was able to hold the lead from hot favourite Bettors Fire and that changed the race.
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RUMOURS of Jack Mac’s demise were greatly exaggerated.
A sustained absence from the racetrack by last season’s Western Australian juvenile star sparked plenty of talk his career was over or even worse.
Just last week Jack Mac’s connections posted on his own twitter handle: “I didn’t die of a snake bite (wtf lol), I haven’t been sold to the US, I didn’t get a positive swab and I haven’t broken down. #RumoursAreFun Will be back soon though.”
Soon was last Friday night when the former Kiwi colt returned to racing with an arrogant all-the-way in the $50,000 Group 2 Pearl Classic at Gloucester Park.
Trained by Barry Howlett and driven by Chris Lewis, Jack Mac dictated terms in front and really just sprinted home a last quarter in 27.7sec to win by 8.2m.
It was his eighth win from as many starts since moving from NZ to WA. He was winless in five NZ starts.
Jack Mac was spelled after winning WA’s major two-year-old race, the Golden Slipper, on July 1 last year.
He returned to win by a big space at Pinjarra in January, but hadn’t been again until his Gloucester Park last Friday night.
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