Tomorrow night will be The Fat Man’s second run for Team Caldow but reinsman John Caldow, one of the winningest drivers in Australasian trots, knows the stallion well.
When the son of American Ideal was trained in Hamilton by David Lewis Caldow was his regular driver and notched seven wins aboard the six-year-old.
Now trained out of Melton by John’s wife Maree, The Fat Man debuted for the stable at Geelong earlier this month and finished second to Bad Boy Brad beaten 2.1m in 1:58.3.
“He’s a lovely horse. He’s been a good horse all the way through,” Caldow told RSN this morning.
Tomorrow night The Fat Man starts from gate seven in the eighth race, the M0 Montmorency Petrie Park Probus Vicbred Pace over 2240m.
“It is a little bit tricky. We’ll put him on the gate and have a look but he’ll more than likely have to go back at the start,” Caldow said.
“He’s pretty adaptable. He can go forward or back, you can drive him whichever way the race is run.”
Tomorrow night’s is a handy M0 with Geoff Webster’s smart five-year-old Mach Doro, Bad Boy Bad, who conquered The Fat Man last time, Andy Gath’s Hoo Nien, Matthew Craven’s in-form Sirladyn Reba and Alan Donohoe’s smart seven-year-old Allies Mate all engaged.
But Caldow says The Fat Man is ready to run a big race. “He’s pretty forward so we’d like to think so.”
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The Caecia Gardens Pace over 2240m (M2-M4) sees Group 3 Popular Alm FFA and Tontine Series Final winner Mister Mundaka resuming for Andy and Kate Gath.
The seven-year-old Bettors Delight gelding hasn’t started since finishing down the track in the Group 1 Victoria Cup but has trialled six times since – twice this month.
His most recent trial effort saw him finish second to stablemate Burnaholeinmypocket (who resumes Saturday night at Cranbourne) by a short half-head in 1:57.8. The pair finished 15m clear of Hotasel.
Stunning Grin, Quick Draft, Major Secret and Five Star Anvil are all rated top winning chances in the race after the scratching of early favourite Jilliby Jagger.
The Au Revoir Colonel Torikina Pace over the 1720m sprint trip features in-form seven-year-olds Upanatom and Mister Livan.
Upanatom ran second to Jilliby Jagger in 1:51.9 last start, while Mister Livan captured the Battle of the Claimers in 1:53.6 – producing the fastest 800m and last mile of the night (1:53.13 and 54.66).
The first race at Tabcorp Park Melton kicks off at 5.40pm and the last is 9.37pm.
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