Dalgetys with strong hand at Rangiora

By Mike Love

The final round of heats for the Anne Thompson Graduation series will be run at the Rangiora meeting today, with West Melton trainers Cran and Chrissie Dalgety lining up two runners.

Chicago Bear is the first cab off the rank in race 2, heat 3 for the pacers. Coming off the back of a strong debut performance at Addington on April 18, co-trainer Chrissie Dalgety is expecting big things from the Bettor's Delight four-year-old.

“We are expecting him to do very well.”

“He’s come through his Addington race extremely well. We think he will be hard to beat.”

Chicago Bear, a $310,000 purchase at the 2021 National Yearling Sales in Christchurch, is at $3.40 on the fixed markets, vying for favouritism with Kairaki Delight. He will be driven by Carter Dalgety.

A quick turnaround for Dalgety sees Princess Bella ($4.50) make her debut in race 3, heat 4 for the maiden trotters. The three-year-old Father Patrick filly has had a lot of ground work, first stepping out as a two-year-old at the Rangiora workouts in May 2023 and having a few spells in between. Dalgety is hoping Princess Bella will do things right today.

“She should be a good chance.”

“She is still learning. Just getting her to step away will be the key. Whatever she does she will definitely benefit from the run.”

Princess Bella will also be driven by Carter Dalgety.

A Fine Patrick is the favourite at $2.10.

Race 1 is Heat 3 for the trotters. A very even field has been drawn with in-form trotters such as Paul Nairn’s Forgiveness, Kevin Townley’s Spotlight and the Mark Jones trained Prohibited Bid, among others. Prohibited Bid is the early favourite at $3.20.

Race four is the final heat for the pacers which will see the Brent and Tim White trained debutant Clonakilty ($1.90FF), who has been unbeaten at workouts and trials, take on other chances such as Auntie Deb for Andrew Faulks and Robbie Holmes’ Keeping It Kiwi who is also a trial-winning debutant.

The $20,000 Anne Thompson graduation finals will be run on May 19.

Racing commences from 11:54am.