The steeple grass was on fire last Friday with some of the fastest times we have seen at Flemington jumpouts and a proven speedster scorching the track.
The Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra-trained Heatherly ran what is the fastest 800m jumpout we have seen since times have been recorded, winning heat one by a head over Vega Magic in 43.08 seconds. Both look in excellent order, Vega Magic taken noticeable improvement from his first jumpout.
The Leon and Troy Corstens-trained Kobayashi was similarly fast winning heat two in 44.01 seconds while Saracino, now trained by Mike Moroney, was not given a hard time winning heat five in 44.67 seconds.
Smart fillies Shoals (heat seven), Arctic Angel (heat 8) and Hear The Chant (heat 10) won their respective heats, all travelling smoothly throughout.
Friday's heats were on the steeple grass from the 1600m and on the rail, jockeys reporting the ground riding in the good(2) range
Racenet has selected three unexposed horses it may pay punters to follow in coming weeks.
Click here to see the 16 heats.
A THOUSAND DEGREES
Unraced three-year-old colt by Nicconi trained by Tony McEvoy. Broke from the middle of the field in heat seven and restrained early under Luke Currie. Wanted to get on with it and allowed to roll forward after halfway with Shoals on his outside. Still under a hold through the line in 44.39 with Shoals joining him on the outside and Montevideo making ground towards the inside. Montevideo is an unraced four-year-old by Husson and trained by Chris Waller with poor trial form in Sydney however, this effort a good improvement on his last jumpout.
Career (Unraced)
RED IS THE ROSE
An older filly now, this Lindsay Park Racing-trained four-year-old daughter of Fastnet Rock is only lightly raced but has shown ability, winning at Sandown and finishing fourth behind I Am A Star in the Group II A V Kewney Stakes last season. Broke smartly from the middle of the field in heat six and travelled smoothly in second place as Crystal Dreamer led. Not asked a serious question by Beau Mertens and went through the line a neck in front of Crystal Dreamer, under a big hold from Damian Lane, in 44.75 seconds. Only rated 67 so she can be placed to good advantage.
Career (5-1:1:2)
OUTBACK WARRIOR
Unraced three-year-old gelding by Toorak Toff, trained by Mike Moroney. Jumped from the inside in heat 16 and took a while to find his feet, last after 200m but not hurried and allowed to balance up. Still a clear last before the bend but wound nicely late to finish third of five in 44.01 seconds and all under his own steam. The winner Hove Actually is an unraced three-year-old colt by Redoute's Choice trained by Lindsay Park Racing and the Leon and Troy Corstens-trained Dental, a three-year-old filly by Fastnet Rock, showed good speed all the way travelling wide. Nothing wrong with the way All Cooped Up, a three-year-old filly by Bel Esprit and trained by Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra, went either despite finishing last and this might be a heat that produces winners.
Career (Unraced)
