Jaensch pair tune up for straight track heats
Tuesday Meeting (Straight track)
Rick Leach picked up a winner to start the week at the Bridge with Centre Bounce (Tommy Shelby x Zipping Maisy) breaking through for his maiden win at start number 5. Making full use of box one from the 300m start, the black dog started well and thanks to a wide runner in box two, he was given plenty of room early and used it to go straight to the early lead. He travelled sweetly midrace and whilst he shifted away from the rail slightly, he was doing it easily fending off the late challengers and winning well in 17.13 which fared well compared to the other times on the day.
Craig Jaensch landed a race to race double on the card, which was kicked off by My Reason, who had the perfect final tune up for the 2024 Weblec Ace & Mepunga Blazer at Stud Murray Bridge Straight Track Cup heats this week.
From box seven, she pounced on the lead from the 350m boxes and was quickly into her work, setting up a margin. Mid-race, she moved down to the rails and had set up a comfortable buffer on the others and while Daytona closed late, My Reason was too good in winning in a sharp 19.27. My Reason looks to be one of the key players in the Cup series.
Beast Cut Loose then lined up from box eight in the grade 5 final over the 350m journey. When the boxes opened, the big dog was a tad tardy to go, but quickly balanced up and stayed out wide. It was a good tussle early and Beast Cut Loose still had plenty of work to do with 150m left, but he was slowly bridging the gap.
With the line approaching, he just got his nose in front and won by the smallest of possible margins, running 19.41 in the process, which was quite good in comparison to the best of the day set by My Reason.
The next straight track meeting will feature four heats of the 2024 Weblec Ace & Mepunga Blazer at Stud Murray Bridge Straight Track Cup with an excellent mix of loal and interstate hopes.
Interstate hopes include the Van De Maat pair of Will Vanson and Daytona while the talented Maybe Yesterday for Andrew Paraskevas will head to The Bridge.
Key local chances include short course specialists Not For Profit and Oakvale Outlaw while Victa Marli, Coorong Cam and My Reason will also be key hopes in the series.
Sunday Meeting
On a peaceful Sunday evening, the night belonged to a Victorian visitor in the form of Aroha Hemingway who is based in Rochester, which is an hour past Bendigo and over six hours from Murray Bridge.
Aroha brought a nice team of dogs to the track and walked away with a treble of winners to make the trip over a worthwhile one!
American Boy (Fernando Bale x My American Girl) was the first winner with the black dog putting on a great display of speed to take out the first race from the 395m trip. After leading early from box one, he travelled nicely into the turn and held a margin on the others. With a two-length margin at the top of the straight, he was able to hold that all the way through the line and win very well in a handy 22.81.
Katoni then lined up for his third box eight start in as many races and it proved to be another winning formula. A fast start saw him work around the field early and go straight to the lead and find a three-length lead around the turn. He was never in any danger and simply strolled away for a good 22.70 win, which made it three in a row for the son of Magic Sprite.
Highway rounded out the evening for Aroha, as he took out a grade 6 over the short trip. From box two, he started well and worked hard to hold the early lead. It was a tight tussle heading into the turn, but Highway used the inside perfectly and shoved those outside of him out the way. Highway was never clear of pressure, but he just kept holding a small margin and in the end won by a pimple in 22.74.
It’s been a long time between drinks for Lochinvar Aloisi, but on Sunday the black and white dog found himself back in the winners list, for the first time since June last year! Lining up in a 455m grade 6, he drew box eight and was only given a rough chance by the market. A slow start meant that he had to sit wide early and looked to be in some trouble as was struggling to get into a good position. Despite this, he kept on pushing and rode some luck heading into the turn, before finding himself in an ominous second. At the top of the straight, he set his eyes on the leader Aston Butters and whilst it took him the whole of the straight to get there, he did, landing a terrific and hard-earned victory in 26.02 with a result that would definitely have pleased trainer Adrein Chevalier.