A recent change to the format of the Bedwells Feed Barn Star Trek series which this year sees heats conducted at the Bathurst, Dubbo, Parkes and Young tracks, has all the makings for an exciting final. Out of the six heats conducted over the seven day period, only first and second will qualify for the $12,000 final due to be run on Friday night.
There were three heats conducted at Bathurst last Wednesday night with Steve Turnbull picking up two wins and Nathan Xuereb one.
In heat one, Sams Cam ($5,80) trained and driven by Nathan Xuereb, came with a well timed run in the straight to defeat Uncle John (Anthony Frisby) by six metres with Better With Bourbon (Bernie Hewitt) a further three metres away in third. The mile rate for the 2260 metres was a slick 1.57.6. The short priced favourite, De Santa Anna ($1.90), didn’t have a lot of luck in the run and finished fourth, finishing ten metres from the winner.
In heat two, the recent Canola Cup winner Oh I Am The One, ($1.10 favourite), maintained his unbeaten record in Australia with a tough win, after sitting parked for the entire trip and proving too strong in the run home for Steve and Amanda Turnbull. The ever consistent Midnight Prowler (Mitch Turnbull) ran home well for second, beaten five metres, which gave Steve Turnbull the quinella, with third placing going to Usher (Nathan Hurst). The mile rate for the winner was 1.57.5, which was the quickest of the three heats run.
In heat three, Happy To Go, ($2.60 favourite) gave Amanda Turnbull an easy drive out in front in a slowly run affair, to record a 5 metre victory from, It Takes Courage (Todd McCarthy) with Shes So Foxy (Emma Turnbull) a further three metres away. Not surprising, Happy To Go clocked the fastest last half of the three winners, with a personal final 800 metres of 56.4 seconds.
In what is shaping into a very interesting final, the question that must be asked is, can Oh I Am The One continue his unbeaten run in Australia and win this years Bedwells Star Trek Final? He will start the race favourite and his trainer Steve Turnbull has won four Star Trek Finals.
However, the knockout stable could be the Tulhurst Racing Team with trainer Nathan Hurst qualifying three runners for the final, namely, Usher, Kyalla Dave and Flight Express. The stable has had great success in the Star Trek Final over the last five years with Regal Eagle (2010) and Tulhurst Eden (2011) both tasting success. Added to this Nathan picked up a catch drive on Our Miss Kathryn (2013) for Ashlee Siejka. So he does know what it takes to win this event. With all things considered it should be a great race.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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