THERE are no bigger fans of slot racing than passionate Geelong owners Danny and Jo Zavitsanos.
That’s why they are so excited about having two of the 10 runners in Australia’s richest two-year-old race, the $500,000 Group 1 Protostar, at Albion Park on Saturday night.
Cardigan Dan is $3.20 favourite from gate one, while the tough back row draw (gate 10) has Dynamitedan at $15.
Both are trained by the powerhouse Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin stable, who has The Highlight Reel finishing second in last year’s inaugural Protostar.
The race was won by the Grant Dixon-trained Fate Awaits, who has since stamped the quality of the race by winning last Saturday night’s $300,000 Group 1 Rising Sun.
Dixon and his wife, Trista, also have two runners in their quest to go back-to-back in the Protostar – Fire And Passion (gate two, $4.40) and Fight For Glory (eight, $4.40).
“What a field and what a race,” Zavitsanos said. “I love these slot races, I think they’ve been great for the sport.
“Jo and I have slots in so many of them and it’s great to have a second runner we own in this Protostar, too.
“With Emma and Clayton, it’s a real stable bid to win the race. All of their major owners are close, in this case, we’ve got our two and Summit (Bloodstock) has Loucasso in for Emma and Clayton, too.
“We’re all one big team and will share in each other’s success if any of the three runners for Emma and Clayton win it.”
Loucasso would have been favourite from a good draw, but is out to $6 from and outside front row alley (gate seven).
“The barriers are so important in these races, so you’d have to lean with Cardigan Dan now he’s drawn so well. He’s got the speed to use the draw,” Zavitsanos said.
Looking further ahead, Zavitsanos said he and Jo were starting to weigh-up options for their slot in the world’s richest harness race, the $2.1mil TAB Eureka at Menangle on September 6.
“It’ll come around sooner than you think after this Carnival,” he said.
“I haven’t used the slot on one of our own horses in the two runnings so far, but that’s the way I’m leaning for this year.
“Horses like War Dan Buddy, who ran really well first-up, and Fox Dan are in the mix.
“Fox Dan is only three, but Bay Of Biscay ran second last year and showed the three-year-olds could be very competitive.
“This looks like a really good batch of three-year-olds this year so I’d expect quite a few to take on the TAB Eureka. That’s why we’ll seriously consider Fox Dan.
“Let’s just get through this week and then we’ll start to get serious about who we run in our Eureka slot.”
