Dash Of Blue Looking to Dazzle In The Shane McQueen Final
The feature event on Thursday night’s Angle Park card will be the final of the 2023 Shane McQueen series run over the 595m distance each year.
It shapes as an excellent final following four hotly contested heats last week.
The quickest qualifier from the heats was the Ben Rawlings trained Could Be King, who continues his rise as one of the state’s best middle-distance dogs. He ran a quick 34.42 in his heat, with the track affected by the wet weather and not conducive to fast times.
Whilst Could Be King will go into the final as one of the favourites, it was the Richard Pearce trained Dash Of Blue who caught the eye of many as he ran a career best race, nearly running down Could Be King in the heat.
Dash Of Blue has been building his way up to this level of racing and with a string of good form behind it and the heat run should not have come as a surprise.
The run home of 12.90 that Dash Of Blue put together last week is something that will no doubt frighten a few of his rivals on Thursday and if he is able to navigate box one, which is not an ideal draw for him, then he will no doubt prove a real danger in the race.
Trainer Richard Pearce was understandably pleased with the heat run, with its enormity made even bigger by the amount of ground that Dash Of Blue had to cover in the middle stages of the race.
“I was very happy with his heat run,” Pearce said.
“He ran a bit wide on the turn into the back straight and he lost a few lengths there, but on the whole, he made up a lot of ground.”
“Just lately he’s been showing that he can stick on a bit.”
Whilst the box one draw may look a big asset for Dash Of Blue on paper, Pearce is cautious of his desire to get room to his outside and concedes he may need some luck early.
“I think box one might help him provided he doesn’t get smothered on the first turn,” he said.
“That’s his only problem, but if he happens to jump clear with them, it will be a good race. Mind you, Aloisi’s dog (Ravers Army) is a pretty smart dog and Could Be King is not too bad out there either, it will get a clear run.”
Future plans will be to step Dash Of Blue up the 730m distance and given how much of a star his half-brother Bedrock Fred was over the distance, there is nothing to say that he won’t be able to achieve some fantastic success over it.
“He will run over the 700 in the future.” Pearce said.
“I will give him a couple more 600s yet to toughen him up, then I will put him over the 700, he indicates that he will run it.”
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Fabulous Ebony has been in excellent form since returning from a two-month absence from racing and she will get another chance to notch another victory when she lines up in the fast class race over the 530m distance.
After some impressive straight track runs to start this preparation, her last two efforts at Angle Park have been fantastic as she has shown both speed and strength that we know she has.
It was a serious injury that kept her out of action for the two-month period and for her to come back in the fashion that she has is excellent.
“She had a fractured hock,” said her trainer Darren Camporeale on her time off.
“She came back for two runs and won in the second one, but then refractured it.”
It’s set up to be a cracking race on Thursday, with the inform Agent Nine Nine and returning superstar Mallee Magic also in the race. Camporeale is under no illusions about the challenge that awaits, but will be hoping that she can maintain her good form and run another terrific race.
“Her last two runs have been good. The fourth was good after missing the start and she ran on well. The second for her last start was really good,” he said,
“This is a harder race again. She’s well drawn in box two but I would think she’s a place chance at best.”
Racing will start at 6:34pm local time with the Shane McQueen set to be run at 9:05pm.
Best Bet: Fantastic Dixie (Race 6, Number 1)
Value Bet: Frank Light Year (Race 10, Number 1)