30 March 2021 | HRNSW MEDIA | AMANDA RANDO
MENANGLE’S leading reinsman Luke McCarthy will not be driving at that track today.
Instead, the multiple Group 1 winning McCarthy will be making his way to Riverina Paceway in Wagga Wagga.
McCarthy has a number of key drives in the heats of the Four and Five-Year-Old Riverina Championships.
With the $100,000 Group 1 Finals to be held at Wagga on Easter Sunday, McCarthy will first test the waters with Muscle Factory.
Since making a return from injury, Muscle Factory has remained unbeaten in his last five starts.
Trained by Belinda McCarthy, Muscle Factory is owned by Riverina interests.
The stable will also be hoping to qualify their Group 1 winning mare No Win No Feed, who will go around in race eight.
No Win No Feed ran fourth to Stylish Memphis in the Ladyship Mile last start on February 27.
That effort pushed No Win No Feed’s earnings t o $409,420, making her the richest daughter of sire A Rocknroll Dance in the Southern Hemisphere.
‘Team McCarthy’ will also aim to qualify Two Times Bettor in race nine.
The former Victorian-trained mare was transferred from Emma Stewart’s stable to Belinda McCarthy’s prior to her last start where she finished seventh to Rocknroll Angel at Menangle on March 26.
As for McCarthy he has six drives in total across tonight’s card.
With 44 wins to his credit this season, McCarthy has a strike rate of 61 per cent of finishing top three.
He added to this statistic when winning the Gold Chalice at Bathurst on Saturday night with Idyllic and third with Silk Cloud in the Gold Tiara.
“He had the draw and we had to use it,” McCarthy said following his Group 1 win with Idyllic.
“There was a lot of pressure during the race.
“Full credit to Clayton (Tonkin) and Emma (Stewart) they have done a super job with him.”
Idyllic will have a break before being aimed at the Australian Pacing Gold series in May.
It will be the same scenario for the Gold Bracelet winner Anntonia who gave reinsman Jack Trainor his third Group 1 win in a month last Saturday night.
Trainor has a drive in seven of the eight races at Menangle today.
He is four wins behind McCarthy in the New South Wales Drivers’ Premiership, and has 40 wins to his credit so far this season.
Trainor added to this when winning three of the first four races at Bathurst last Saturday night.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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