Queen Elida wins second ID heat

By Adam Hamilton 

So far so good for Kiwi-owned mare Queen Elida in the NSW Inter Dominion.

Just as the Brent Lilley-trained mare did last Friday at Newcastle, Queen Elida buzzed to the front and won as he liked in her second heat at Bathurst last night.

Her prospects soared when two main dangers, London To A Brick and Keayang Chucky, galloped and lost all chance in the early stages.

London To A Brick is now out of final contention after also making a mistake on night one.

But Queen Elida looks right back to her best and in a series lacking absolute star power, she is the class factor.

Tough and talented Victorian Plymouth Chubb followed his booming Newcastle run with a fantastic third after sitting outside Queen Elida last night. He looms as a major player in the final.

Rejuvenated former Victorian The Locomotive joined Queen Elida on the unbeaten list when he led throughout last night and looked a lot more impressive than he did on night one.

The four-year-old has won all four for Brad Hewitt this campaign and smashed the track record with a 1min55.5sec mile rate for 1730m.

In the pacing series, the story was all about the difference one round of heats can make.

Kiwi-owned Minstrel grabbed outright favouritism for the NSW Inter Dominion final, but last night’s second round heat was a very different story.

Gear problems sparked him to gallop once, then again and basically follow the field around.

It was revealed one hopple pin didn’t release, then the other got tangled when driver Deni Roberts tried to activate it.

It leaves Minstrel needing at least a top three finish in Saturday night’s last round of heats just to make the final.

Minstrel’s issues paved the way for a monstrous upset in last night’s third pacing heat – run in torrential rain on a very heavy track – when the much travelled Petes Said So zipped home from three pegs to beat leader My Moonlite Dream with Cya Art third after trailing the leader.

The Bathurst track is renowned for its leader and peg bias, but that was extreme on the wet track last night.

The first three home in that third heat raced on the pegs and so did the other two heat winners.

In the first heat, Jason Grimson’s classy sit-sprinter Nerano returned to his best with an easy win after trailing the leader and dashing up the sprint lane to bolt in, clocking a 1min51.4sec mile rate for 1730m.

The emerging Dangerous, who grabbed the eye on opening night, ran another slashing race for second after making a midrace move and then getting the one-one trail.

Opening round heat winner Captains Knock was buried three pegs last night and finished well for third.

Luke McCarthy’s TAB Eureka winner Don Hugo improved on a moderate fifth at Newcastle to lead and thrash his rivals last night.

McCarthy dictated terms in front and ripped home in 54.1 and 26.8sec on Don Hugo to win by 9.2m over District Attorney, who was just fair in second spot after trailing the leader, and outsider Unfazed, who sat three back on the pegs.

Mighty veteran Max Delight’s effort for fourth was big given the pattern of racing, while opening night winner Cantfindabettorman did plenty of midrace work and was far from disgraced in seventh spot.

The vital barrier draws for Saturday night's last round of heats at Menangle are out at 2pm (NZ time) today (Thursday).