Horn Player Photo by Club Menangle
The stars have aligned again for progressive pacer Horn Player as he chases a clean sweep of the TAB Regional Championships series at Menangle on Saturday night.
Brad Hewit's four-year-old came from barrier six to win both his heat and the Metropolitan Final and remarkably gets the same barrier in his bid for the hat trick in the $100,000 State Final.
Horn Player is blessed with early speed so has led in both of those victories, repelling the challengers to get home by 3.2m last week.
Those were his only two attempts over 2300m at Menangle and there is no reason for a change of tactics so expect driver David Hewitt to be pushing him forward again.
A sweep of the series would see Horn Player follow in the footsteps of another Hewitt star in Extreme Sea who won the same the races last year but with the roles reversed - Brad in the sulky and David as trainer.
He faces a new rival in exciting pacer Glitter Aint Gold who was by far the most impressive winner of the country region finals.
Nathan Turnbull's four-year-old was dominant through the western region series, spanking his rivals by 18m in the final last start.
He has copped a second row draw which has dented his chances but he came from there to easily win his heat two back and is three from three at this distance range.
He is a horse on the up and the draw may not be enough to stop him.
Tomahawk Bart is going well having added to a string of top-two finishes when runner-up to Horn Player from a wide barrier last week. He has the early pace to take advantage of the good draw so is a hope to turn the tables.
Duggee Sloy continued his strong form with his placing from the same barrier in the metro final last week so can be competitive again along with Little Demon who is in form and has the pace to be prominent from the low draw.
Kingmaker has to tackle a couple of Group 1 winners but an eye-catching last-start performance could have him ready to peak in the night's other feature event, the Success Stud Equine Breeding Pace.
Luke McCarthy's gelding went back from a wider draw last week but powered to the line when clear for his second runner-up result in as many starts at Menangle this time in.
He is a two-time third-up winner so should be race fit now and is clearly in good shape this campaign.
Captain Ravishing has been freshened and has won a trial since disappointing in the Goulburn Cup last start and gets the same draw he had when winning over the distance two back.
He can be enigmatic at times but the best version of him wins this.
Max Delight led and was run down last week but that added to a string of wins and placings and he came from the same barrier as Saturday when he scored two back.
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