Peaky Boo takes flight in blistering Launching Pad display
The 12-race Angle Park program on Thursday night was headlined by two heats of the SA Launching Pad series with the winner of the series being awarded a ticket into the Launching Pad series at Sandown next month.
It was the Ben Rawlings-trained Peaky Boo, who produced one of the best runs of the year to date at Angle Park to win his heat and loom as the firm favourite heading into next wee'k's final,
Starting as a red-hot favourite, Peaky Boo left punters little to be worried about after going 5.28 to the post from box one and opening up a handy advantage by the first turn. Hugging the rail, the only conern was on the clock and after a 17.51 second section, Peaky Book flew home to win in 30.29 nearly ten lenghts ahead of its nearest rival.
Shipway for Kirin Corby ran second while Allinga Zoe for Yvonne King ran third.
The second heat was a much closer affair with several winning chances in the field. It was the Richard Pearce trained Keep It Zipped who won the second heat winning a tight race in a time of 31.08.
From box one, Keep It Zipped was anle to hold the rail from the speedy trio of Transplant King, Senna Wick and Peace Belle. Once in front, Keep It Zipped was challenged but was able to hold and win by two lengths from Transplant King.
The box draw was conducted on course on Thursday with Peaky Boo drawing box seven but still looks to be the favourite for the race.
---
Aloisi's night out
Tim Aloisi enjoyed a good night out on Thursday notching a double on the card with his duo of Ravers Army and Zipping Neutron, who both represented SA at last year's Nationals.
Dropping back in class to a grade five, Ravers Army was drawn awkwardly in box six and was crossed by the speedy Down The Line who got over fro,m box seven.
Down The Line opened its advantage up down the back but the chasers closed including Ravers Army who worked his way through the field and when Down The Line shifted wide on the home turn, it allowed Ravers Army room on the rail to swoop through and win in the final strides in 30.99 by a quarter of a length.
There was less issues for Zipping Neutron who had his own way over the 730m trip in his first run over the distance for 2024.
From bix two, he jumped beautifully and was never troubled in winning in 43.02 and will be much better for the run with a clash looming between Lena Jix and Zipping Neutron in the coming weeks.
A big week for the Aloisi kennel will continue on Monday night, when Stout Monelli returns to SA over the 530m trip with the Angle Park 595m track record holder closing in on 100 career starts of which he has won 45 of those.
--
Crackerjack Hawk previals in 595m tussle
One of the more intriguing races on the card was the mixed grade race over the 595m journey with an intriguing final featuring several impressive chasers. In an intriguing battle, Katrina Highkick lead early but was quickly matched by the pair of Crackerjack Hawk and Woodside Johnny to the post the first time around.
Crackerjack Hawk was able to extend an advantage down the back straight and fend off the challenges from Woodside Johnny and Katrina Highkick to win in 34.68 and make it two for two over the 595m journey in the bast two weeks.
Other winners on the Angle Park card included the Kiah Hurley trained Tinamba Tim who took out the time-graded 1-4 win final which opened the card while Victa Marli grabbed an impressive win in the high grade mixed race over the 530m trip.