Brad Hewitt and Captains Knock. Photo by Club Menangle
A red-hot Captains Knock can take his next step towards the $1 million Carnival of Cups bonus when he heads to Newcastle for the second round on Friday night.
The big payout is on offer for any horse that can win all five legs of the series and that is the goal of Brad Hewitt's stallion after he won the opening round at Wagga.
Since then he scored again at Menangle to stretch his winning streak to four so he looks to be in career best form.
A masterful drive from Hewitt from the back row helped Captains Knock hold off a late charge from Don Hugo in The Bidgee, the second time in a row he had beaten the multiple Group 1 winner.
That rival isn't in Friday's Steel City Cup at Newcastle and is instead well fancied against Leap To Fame in the Blacks A Fake in Brisbane on Saturday.
It leaves Captains Knock as a hot favourite to continue on his winning way, opening at a very prohibitive quote of $1.15 with the TAB.
The Steel City Cup is a different looking race to The Bidgee given that with just seven runners, all will start on the front row.
Captains Knock comes from widest but he showed how much gate speed he possesses when he crossed to lead from one spot wider at Menangle last Saturday before going on to score by 4m.
Similar tactics are likely and in his only previous visit to Newcastle he won an Inter Dominion heat so he looks very hard to stop.
Max Delight has chased Captains Knock home in his last three starts so will need to lift to turn the tables but the old warrior can never be discounted and looks the only likely challenger.
Unlike last week, Max Delight has drawn inside Captains Knock and was only 2.3m behind him when third in The Bidgee.
The 2550m distance range is one where Max Delight performs well – with two wins and two placings from seven attempts – so he could make a race of it.
Cya Art is a hard horse to catch but he was better last week when fourth to Captains Knock at Menangle, finishing in front of Max Delight.
He grabbed Captains Knock for an upset win in the Group 1 Len Smith Mile earlier in the campaign so can pop up when least expected.
Petes Said So usually performs well when he heads to Newcastle and is the other that looks a trifecta player.
Newcastle specialist Always Be Chaps could be set for a big payday in the night's other feature, the TAB Hunter Regional Championships Final.
The race has brought together an even and competitive field but Always Be Chaps looks to offer decent each way value after opening at $8.
The four-year-old made it two wins from his past three outings when he led from the same draw (front row five) to score by just over a metre in the heats.
That took his strike rate at the circuit and distance to 50 per cent and all 11 career wins have come at Newcastle from just 21 attempts. He could do it again.
Walter Warlock looks a big chance after he missed by just a nose as favourite in his heat, leading from a similar draw and fighting on well.
That was his first outing for nearly four weeks since the Breeders Challenge series where he won a heat at Newcastle and placed in a Menangle semi-final. He'll be fitter so is a big chance to go one better.
Grosso Naso led from a few spots wider to place in the heats. He should be close to peak fitness third-up and has the pace to be prominent from his inside draw.
Last-start winner Rouge Bling has been very consistent and draws to be competitive again.
