By Adam Hamilton
WHAT a season this has been for young gun Victorian driver Zac Phillips.
Phillips broke through for his first Group 1 win on the Anton Golino-trained Une Belle Allure earlier this year and has since added another two wins at the highest level on the three-year-old filly.
The most recent was the biggest of them all in last Saturday night’s Victoria Trotters’ Oaks (2240m).
Golino, private trainer for Pat Driscoll’s huge Yabby Dams set-up, had four runners and mixed results.
His hot favourite Kinvara Sue led, overraced badly and dropped out to finish 73m from the winner in 11th spot.
But Une Belle Allure continued her fantastic season with an impressive win in a 1min59.4sec mile rate.
Une Belle Allure has won six of her season starts this season, including the NSW Oaks as well, and now earned $107,490 in stakes.
Golino snared a feature double on the night when Muscle Hill five-year-old Glenferrie Burn edged-out favourite Red Hot Tooth in the Group 2 Bacardi Lindy Mares’ Trot (2240m) with Josh Aiken aboard.
The other feature on the trotting-themed meeting was the Group 2 Tatlow Stakes won by the Alison Alford-trained Wobelee, a son of former classy trotter Down Under Muscles.
THE stocks have risen at the Team McCarthy’s stables.
As well as having stable star Bling It On primed for a return, the barn is also home to a few of Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen’s young stars during their NSW raids.
“It’s brightened-up winter around the place, that’s for sure,” Luke McCarthy said. “I’ve been lucky enough to drive Vincent and Sicario at their most recent wins over here. And Waikiki Beach and More The Better are among some more Mark’s sending across this week.”
Sicario’s only defeat in five starts came when he charged home from an impossible position for a distant fourth to the buzz Victorian Lumineer in the Australian Gold final on April 29.
The Victorian-owned youngster easily won his Breeders Challenge heat at Penrith on May 18 and was kept sharp for the semi-finals with a narrow, but impressive Menangle trial win last Tuesday.
The son of Somebeachsomewhere posted a 1min55.4sec mile winning by a neck and zipped home in a 27.2sec closing quarter.
Vincent won his Breeders Challenge heat at Penrith last Thursday week and steps out again at Menangle tomorrow (Tuesday).
“Vincent feels a bit special,” McCarthy said. “I know Mark has a huge opinion of him and I can see why.”
MAT Rue won a Miracle Mile aboard former star mare Baby Bling and now he’s making a real name for himself in the training ranks.
The talented Bathurst horseman trained and drove his stable star Fouroeight to a fast-finishing win in the Group 3 Mount Eden 4YO Stakes (1609m) at Menangle last Saturday night.
Punters splurged on Shane Tritton’s speedster Anything For Love to lead through, but, despite a cosy 57.9sec first half, he was unable to stave-off the big finish of Fouroeight, who won by 1.4m in a 1min52.1sec mile.
The free-for-all at Menangle went to Craig Cross’ classy speedster Allblack Stride, who beat former Kiwi mare Cyclone Kate in a 1min521.sec mile.
THE most notable absentee from the NSW Breeders Challenge, Lumineer, won’t race again this season.
At first it was thought trainer Ange McDowall was reluctant to take him back from Victoria to NSW for the second time this season, having already won the Australian Gold final at Menangle.
But late last week McDowall revealed Lumineer has suffered a minor setback and would also miss the Breeders Crown in his home state later in the season.
Lumineer is unbeaten in five starts and has drawn comparisons with the great
WHAT a marvellous horse Guaranteed was.
Connections drew the curtain on the injury-plagued star’s career after he ran below his best again at Melton last Saturday week.
Guaranteed, who was a star from his juvenile days, raced 46 times for 24 wins, 12 placings and earned $856,316.
His biggest win came in the 2014 Chariots Of Fire and he also ran a close third to Christen Me and Beautide in the 2015 Miracle Mile.
GARY Hall Jr denied his good mate Michael “Mouse” Brennan one of the bigger training wins of his career at Gloucester Park last Friday night.
Brennan lined-up buzz juvenile filly Miss Sangrial as a $1.10 favourite in the $100,000 2YO Diamond Classic (2130m), but Hall Jr snatched victory by a whisker on the Terry Ferguson-trained $27.70 outsider Cimorene in a 1min58sec mile rate.
Cimorene was the middle leg of a winning treble for Hall Jr, who also scored aboard classy three-year-old Herrick Roosevelt in the opening race and Zach Maguire in race eight.
A SON of former great Kiwi pacer Auckland Reactor created history at Redcliffe last Friday night.
Gold Reactor, trained by Kylie Rasmussen and driven by Chris Petroff, won the first Group 1 race ever held at the regional Queensland track – the $100,450 Redcliffe Yearling Sales final (1780m).
It was a huge face for Rasmussen, who landed the quinella with Sammari running second.
The other feature on the night, the Redcliffe Derby, went to leading trainer-driver Grant Dixon with Paternity Suit.
LET’S just hope San Carlo stays sound.
The rising seven-year-old has been so plagued by injuries he has managed just 15 starts, but he’s won 13 of them.
The most recent came in destructive fashion at Kilmore last Friday night when he steamrolled clear to win by 16.5m in a 1min57.1sec mile rate for 2180m, including closing splits of 57.1 and 28.4sec.
Incredibly he is still a city “maiden” so that’s the next step for trainer Steve O’Donoghue, but San Carlo displays all the speed and strength needed of a potential Grand Circuit pacer.
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