Rasmussen Team Dominate At The Bridge
Tuesday (Straight track)
On a nice day at the Bridge, some slick times were run up the straight track, with a few different trainers picking up a couple of winners.
Tracie Price hasn’t done heaps of racing at the straight, but has been making a couple of trips down recently and was rewarded for his efforts with two winners on Tuesday. Lucky Lucas was the first and he won early in the day, taking out a grade 6 over the 300m trip. After leaving nicely from box seven, he rode a little bump to his outside and worked down to the rail. It was a competitive battle for the lead, but Lucky Lucas had it and never let it go, leading all the way in 16.74. Interestingly, the first four races of the day were won by box seven which is not something you see every day. Banjo Bert then completed the double, winning from box eight over the longer trip. He was in an even race but by staying wide from box eight, he ensured a clean run for himself and made the most of it, leading from go to woah in 19.23. Nice work Tracie!
Dave Peckham continued the ‘Mount Gambier’ theme by also picking two of his own winners. He had to wait until the final two races but it proved to be worthwhile. Aston Olenna was faultless en route to his best of the day 16.42 win from box eight. He jumped well enough and didn’t lead initially, but he did work his way towards the rail before powering away and winning rather comfortably. That was win 23 from 41 starts for the fawn dog who will turn four in January. Aston Bullet rounded out the day and he was rewarded for some consistent form. He had also drawn a rather competitive field and came up with box five, but the big 37kg dog was able to offset that with a flying 4.37 first split. Once he led, he never looked like getting caught, running away for a hot 16.44, which obviously lines up with Aston Olenna quite nicely!
Kevin Bewley continues to pick up the winners and again that was no different on Tuesday, with another two. Oakleigh Reign went back to back, defeating a tougher field over the short journey. From box seven… again, he jumped well and worked his way down to the rail. Little Purpose provided a big challenge halfway up and the two chasers declared it on. In the end, Oakleigh Reign was just a tad too good, holding on in 16.74 to win by a half length. Miss Ambitious was Kevin’s other winner, with the black bitch making the most of a good box one draw. She left the boxes beautifully and with the dog outside running some generous cover, she was given every chance. Mid-race, she took over and really set up a margin, before clocking 16.63 winning time and the 3 length margin to match.
Dog to follow: Val Ali - She’s gone really nicely in her past two starts and on Tuesday showed some excellent early speed. After leading she was trying to get to the rail but found herself in a bumping duel with a dog underneath her, allowing the flying Victa Marli to get the swoop and go past. Val Ali stuck on really well and ran a great second. Bitches in form are always good to follow so I would be sticking with her.
Friday (1-Turn)
It was a big day last week for the Rasmussen team and an even bigger day on Friday, with a huge eight winners between them in a deadset fill up. Live It was one of the more impressive ones in his maiden victory over the 395m trip. After a learning curve at Angle Park a couple of weeks prior, he stepped out from box four on Friday as a warm favourite. He only left the boxes fairly before mustering beautifully and going through a gap, which is always good to see from the young ones! Around the turn he had worked his way to the front and from there he just stormed away, winning by 9 lengths in 22.40. An impressive win! The winners flowed after that, including Victa Makayla. Thanks Joan, Cawbourne Attack, Bernando Bowl (first five of the card), Cawbourne Donna, Most Wanted before we finally got to the last. It was Canya Razor off box one who just seemed a moral considering the way the day had gone and he did not let the punters down as a hot favourite. He flew out in 4.97 first split, before proving just way too fast, as he won easily in a best of the day 21.96. Well done to the Rasmussen team on what was no doubt a memorable day!
Allinga Grin has always been a super honest bitch and she was able to land another win on Friday in what was certainly an unconventional way for her to win. After using her good box manners to find the front, she was pretty quickly overtaken and she would have been $100-1 to win from there, particularly with a couple handy types in front of her. After finding herself three lengths off the leaders, she made a rapid burst turning for home and got up on the inside. With a couple of the leaders getting close to each other, she capitalised and found herself in front at the right time, winning by a neck to land a good win.
Aces Are Trumps returned from a short spell over what is an unsuitable 395m trip. Despite that, he started a warm favourite out of box two. When the boxes opened, he quickly showed why he was favourite, leading out in a 5.01 split which is particularly handy for him. From the lead, he was never going to get run down as he blew them away in a quick 22.13, winning by five lengths. It was a good return and nice training effort from Matty Payne to have him spot on after a month off.
Dog to follow: Immense - Her last two have been rippers and she’s going to win one very soon. From box eight on Friday, she took ground off Bernardo Bowl in fast time which was quite impressive. I presume she rocks up next week for another 395m grade 6 and you will want to be on her side.