Minstrel and Deni Roberts - ID24 Heat 1 win. Photo courtesy HRNSW. Photo by Brett Atkins
STAR WA pacer Minstrel has taken no harm from his “Bathurst debacle” and looks well placed to rebound at Menangle tomorrow night and cement his Inter Dominion final berth.
Just five days after his effortless opening heat win at Newcastle last Friday, Minstrel trailed the field around at Bathurst after a gear malfunction.
It has left him equal 12th on the points table (12 runners make the final), meaning Minstrel will need a top three finish tomorrow night to safely make the final.
“That wasn’t much fun. A hopple shortener wrapped around his leg,” driver Deni Roberts said. “That’s what caused him to gallop and he couldn’t get back into his gear.”
“Most importantly, he came through it fine and now we just have to focus on Menangle.
“I like the draw (gate 10). It’s two-out on the back row and hopefully we can push through well at the start.
“He’ll love getting out to the longer trip (2300m) and I’ve said all along I can’t wait him to get to the big Menangle track.
“Looking at the field, I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t go close to winning and lock his spot in the final.”
Roberts is also optimistic with stablemate Tenzing Bromac, who has drawn ideally in gate two in the first of the Menangle heats.
“His two runs have been good, but nothing has gone right,” she said. “If he begins well, he’ll get his chance this time. But he’ll need to win to have any hope of making the final. He could win at his best.”
Jason Grimson, who has won two of the past three Inter Dominion pacing finals, looks to be building at the right time.
After a disappointing opening night at Newcastle with his four contenders, Grimson stamped his influence with a win (Nerano), a second (District Attorney) and a third (Cya Art) in the second round of heats in the mud at Bathurst on Wednesday.
Nerano, who won two heats of last year’s Brisbane Inter Dominion before a luckless fifth in the final, looks Grimson’s top hope in tomorrow week’s final.
District Attorney, one of few pacers to have beaten Leap To Fame this year, galloped on night one, but improved for a fair second after trailing the leader at Bathurst, while Cya Art finished third off a similarly soft run.
Grimson’s other runner, Curly James, only ran seventh, but was pushed wide and still ran well on a horribly leader and peg-biased Bathurst track.
Curly James landed the good draw he needed to qualify for the final with barrier one in the third of tomorrow night’s three final round qualifying heats at Menangle.
The speedster will lead and has the option of going for an all-the-way win or taking a trail and stalking a key rival like Cantfindabettorman or Captains Knock.
Nerano will find life much harder from an outside draw (gate eight) on tomorrow night, but has banked enough points and should make the final.
District Attorney will need a top two finish to safely make the final, but should get that chance from barrier three at Menangle. Cya Art has gate six in the same race and will struggle.
In the trotting series, big guns Queen Elida and The Locomotive are drawn to complete clean sweeps of their heats.
Queen Elida looks sure to lead from gate two in the second of the Menangle heats, while The Locomotive should make the most of barrier three in the other heat.
