By Adam Hamilton
NSW star Bling It On is primed for Victoria’s big double.
The six-year-old was first-up since a desperately unlucky Perth Inter Dominion run when he toyed with his rivals in a free-for-all (2300m) at Menangle last Saturday night.
“He went super. It’s not normally the way we’d drive him, but it shows how he’s becoming more versatile,” regular driver Luke McCarthy said.
“He’s off to Victoria now. We’re not going to Ballarat next week though.
“He’ll go to both the Victoria and Hunter Cups and then head back home for the Miracle Mile ‘heats’ (Menangle, February 18).”
Luke’s father John, who now trains Bling It On, took the reins at Menangle with Luke down at Shepparton Cup night.
Bling It On drifted back early from a wide draw, moved around to sit parked fairly early and simply packed too much speed and class in the finish.
He exploded clear rounding the final bend and ran closing splits of 54.5 and 27.3sec at the end of a fairly cosy 1min56.3sec mile rate.
“He did a fantastic job over in Perth. He thrived over there through the racing and he’s come back so well,” Luke said.
It’s a busy time for Luke and his wife, Belinda, who recently expanded to open a satellite stable at the Shepparton training complex as an extension to their big and successful NSW barn.
THE All Stars’ latest NSW raid started with mixed results at Menangle last Saturday night.
Glamour filly Partyon brilliantly stretched her unbeaten record to six races when she proved too classy and fast for buzz local Dont Think Twice in the Group 3 Raith Memorial in a 1min51.3sec mile.
But key Chariots Of Fire contender Our Waikiki Beach tasted defeat for just the second time in his 25 starts career against older rivals.
Our Waikiki Beach drew wide and drifted back to last and, in a stop-affair, it was always going to be hard for the four-year-old to make-up the 25-30m he conceded the leaders.
Mark Purdon opted to wait and come with one run from about the 600m, but was pushed deep and lost touch with the leaders at the top of the straight.
Our Waikiki Beach closed well late for third in a run which raised more questions than it answered about his Chariots Of Fire hopes.
Despite his incredible record, there are plenty of Our Waikiki Beach “doubters” out there and scrutiny will now be intense on his next outing.
A MONTH ago trainer Shane Tritton dared to say he had a four-year-old who could “test” Lazarus in the Chariots Of Fire.
It sounded unthinkable given Lazarus had just beat a ripper NZ Cup field by half the straight.
There is still a long way to go, but Tritton’s star four-year-old Salty Robyn keeps getting better and more impressive with every run.
The latest, at Menangle last Tuesday, was his best, both in ease of win and the time.
Salty Robyn made it eight wins on end when he zoomed away to win by 11.3m and ran a 1min49.2sec mile – taking 1.8sec off his personal best.
It was just 1.7sec outside Have Faith In Me’s 1min47.5sec Miracle Mile and Menangle track record.
It’s an exciting time for Tritton with he and wife, Lauren, expecting their first child in August. Hence the fact Chris Geary has taken over most of the stable driving.
Tritton is also aiming at the Chariots with his recent stable addition Anything For Love, a former Victorian who made it two from two for the new stable at Menangle last Tuesday in an easy 1min52.5sec mile.
“He could be anything. On sheer talent, he’s as good as anything in the stable,” he said. “He’s only been in work nine weeks and does everything so easily. And he’s so fast.
“Everything says he’ll just keep improving. He’ll jump out of the ground in three weeks’ time.”
EXCITING former Kiwi gelding Im Full Of Excuses scored his biggest win since moving to WA in the $30,000 Group 3 Northam Cup (2560m) last Saturday night.
Trained by Ross Olivieri and driven by Chris Lewis, the five-year-old son of Jeremes Jet bolted in by 10.2m in a slick 1min58.1sec mile rate off a 30m handicap in the staying test. He ran home in 55.7 and 28.6sec.
He’s now won eight of 10 starts in WA and Lewis thinks he has the potential to be an Inter Dominion contestant later this year.
HECTORJAYJAY is obviously his headline act, but Josh Aiken is a star on the rise regardless.
The young driver won four of the nine races, including the Cup on Hectorjayjay, at Shepparton last Saturday night.
Lightly-raced four-year-old Roll With It continued his charge through the grades to win the fourth event, while Magic Oats ran right-up to an eye-catching workout with Hectorjayjay to win first-up in race six.
In between, Aiken also won the Group 3 The George Gath Trot on veteran mare Vics Cheval.
The seven-year-old, owned by Josh’s mum Colleen, upstaged a strong field as a $27.30 outsider.
“It looked a good night for me on paper with a few of ours in suitable races and they all ran really well,” Aiken said.
On the same card, “bush” sensational Emain Macha scored his most significant win against a small but strong field in the Graham Head Memorial 3YO Classic.
The son of former top stayer Safari led, took a trail and used the sprint lane to upset Astride in a 55.5sec last half.
COULD the new, more tractable version of Cruz Bromac be a “smokey” for the Victoria and/or Hunter Cups?
The five-year-old has won six of his eight runs this campaign and been runner-up in the other two.
Cruz Bromac followed a stunning Cobram Cup win with another dominant win in yesterday’s (Sunday) Hamilton Cup.
Chris Alford took the reins cruised to a 4.7m win in a slick 1min57.3sec mile rate for the long 2660m trip beating top class mare Berisari and talented Kiwi import Ideal Success.
NSW power combo Kerry Ann Turner and Robbie Morris have a Chariots Of Fire “sneaky” with Charlaval.
The speedy son of Four Starzzz Shark made it six wins from his past seven starts when he stormed home to win in a 1min51.9sec mile in the opening race at Menangle last Saturday night.
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