Aussie News - 7 September

By Adam Hamilton

NOW the thinking really begins for the Cash N Flow team.

Dubbed the “Menangle Mile Marvel”, Cash N Flow made it a staggering 11 successive Menangle mile free-for-all wins on end last night.

It was also a record seventh time Cash N Flow has broken 1min50sec for the mile, doing it by a whisker in 1min49.9sec.

But the ex-All Stars gelding did something special again, by breaking 27sec in three of his four splits, including the closers of 26.9 and 26.7sec as he cruised home by seven metres.

So do Craig Cross and Luke McCarthy stretch him beyond his beloved mile to chase the $300,000 Group 1 Victoria Cup on October 10?

Or do they keep him closer to his “zone” and target the $50,000 Group 2 Smoken Up over 1720m at Melton a week before the Victoria Cup.

“He won’t run in both. It’s one or the other. We’ll talk it through. I do think he’ll stretch out to the 2240m OK if we want him too,” McCarthy said.

The last time Cash N Flow raced beyond a mile was his 10th in the Hunter Cup back on February 1.

His last win over further than a sprint trip was at Menangle over 2300m way back on March 15, last year.

On the same card, Anthony Butt’s emerging star Wolf Stride won narrowly but impressively first-up.

The rising five-year-old, first-up since winning the Group 1 NSW Regional Metro Championship final on May 23, sat parked throughout, hit the front early and held-on bravely for his eighth win from just 14 starts.

It will be interesting whether Butt chases a Victoria Cup start or waits to dip into the big league later early next year.

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STINGRAY Tara did his older brother proud with a very impressive win at his first Aussie run for new trainer-driver Geoff Webster at Bendigo last Thursday night.

The rising five-year-old, who raced 23 times in NZ for just three wins and seven placings, suggested he would quickly race through the grades in Victoria after sitting parked and winning easily in quick time 

Despite doing all the work, Stingray Tara cruised to the front on the home bend and seemed to win with plenty in reserve by 7.8m in a 1min56sec flat mile rate for the longer 2150m trip.

Tiger Tara’s former trainer Kevin Pizzuto watched with interest and excitement.

“It’s great to see and we’re really excited at the moment, too, because this is Tiger’s first full season at stud,” he said.

“He’s already got three yearlings and five weanlings.”

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A RUN under his belt and a stretch in distance say the All Stars’ Ashley Locaz return to winning form at just his second run for trainer Vicki Rasmussen at Albion Park on Saturday night.

The rising six-year-old did all the work outside the leader, Northview Hustler, but broke him on the final bend and held the rest at bay easily to win by 3.8m in a brisk 1min54.1sec mile for 2138m.

It was a marked improvement on his sound third to Northview Hustler the previous week, but no doubt the stretch from 1660m to 2138m really suited Ashley Locaz.

And, of course, it was only his second run since contesting the Auckland Inter Dominion last December.

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STABLE favourite Galactic Star headlined a stellar night for Team Bond at Gloucester Park on Friday.

The barn won a four of the 10 races.

The rising eight-year-old, a dual Inter Dominion finalist, showed he could still be a Fremantle and WA Cup player with an impressive win courtesy of a tactically brilliant Ryan Warwick drive.

Buzz but still raw former Kiwi pacer Wildwest was favourite from the pole, but headed-off early and never looked really comfortable after that.

Warwick summed-up the race superbly when he made an early move to sit parked and control the race, then ping for home at the top of the straight.

Galactic Star cruised to a three metre win in a 1min56sec mile rate for 2130m, including closing splits of 56.8 and 28.3sec.

It was his 28th win from 80 starts and took his earnings close to $560,000. 

Wildwest was trapped behind the leader, didn’t have much racing room late and certainly lost no admirers in second spot.

Earlier in the night, the Bonds and Warwick combined with the emerging Justasec for an effortless all-the-way back from a spell.

It was the pint-sized gelding’s 10th win from just 15 starts and he looks to be learning with every outing.

The Bond’s buzz Kiwi import Howard Hughes made it nine wins from just 11 WA runs when he showed extraordinary depth and courage after a tough run in fast time.

Despite doing all the work in a scorching 1min53sec mile rate for 1720m, he kept finding to easily stave-off a big late challenge from Undercover Mac and score by two metres.

Howard Hughes firmly joins Patronus Star as equal top seed in Team Bond for WA’s major four-year-old features in January.

It was great to see their star mare Our Alfie Romeo return to something like her best form with a runaway win in race seven.

It was her 20th win from just 48 starts and took her to within a round of drinks of $300,000 in earnings.

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NO wonder David Aiken has such high hopes for Auckland Reactor’s son Reactor Now.

The lightly-raced gelding stepped-up big time in grade, but won again, making it 11 wins from just 15 starts with his scorching Shepparton victory last night (Saturday) 

Reactor Now was headed-off early from the pole, but quickly re-took the front then started to pull very hard for driver Josh Aiken.

Despite overracing to noticeably and carving out some super splits, Reactor Now kept finding in a 1min52.8sec mile rate for 1690m.

That’s just 0.3sec outside the track record set by former stablemate Ideal Star back on June 19.

Auckland Inter Dominion finalist My Kiwi Mate scooted home strongly late along the marker pegs for second.

Earlier in the night, classy mare Red Hot Tooth beat buzz trotter Wobelee on his merits when she sat parked and dug deep in the fast-class trot.

Wobelee started his campaign in stunning style, but hasn’t looked as sharp in recent runs and the jury is out on whether he’s going to be a major player in the biggest races on current form.

Red Hot Tooth, trained by Kari Males and driven by Kerryn Manning, now boasts 22 wins and 27 placings from 76 starts and earnings of almost $460,000.

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THE delayed NSW Breeders Challenge is underway and already has a bit of a headline act.

There were a couple of two-year-old heats at Penrith last Thursday night and the raw Captaintreacherous filly Arma Renegade looked fantastic.

Trained and driven by Brad Hewitt, Arma Renegade has won all three starts by an aggregate margin of over 52 metres.

That was her biggest test so far and, although she worked to the front and dictated terms, she still posted a very sharp 1min55.3sec mile rate for 1720m. 

The time was certainly impressive when you consider Ignatius holds the Penrith 1720m track record at 1min53.6sec.

The colts and geldings went ripper time as well, with Tasty Delight producing a huge performance to snatch a nose win over Captain Crusader in a 1min54.4sec mile rate for the same 1720m trip.

Another juvenile filly to impress was Im Presi Belle (Mach Three-White Thunder), who won her heat by a big space at Leeton last Friday.