Bathurst trainer Bernie Hewitt always has a smart one in his barn, and this horse is perhaps the most promising in the whole stable.
A now four-year-old, this gelding has always had enormous talent but has been a victim of immaturity and poor racing manners in his career. He appears to have settled down in his racing off the base of his trials and luckless first-up effort.
Drawn ideally in barrier two, it is likely Meraki will cross at the start then Novanta Rising will work his way to the top. From there, he will not be beaten.
Novanta Rising is out Best of The Day.
The feature event on the evening sees a strong field of up-and-coming pacers assembled and it is one of the three McDowell trained runners that comes out on top.
This gelding is another horse that has always shown fantastic ability but has been a victim of poor racing manners, something the stable seem to be on top of. He recorded both the most visually and sectionally stunning win of the heats seven days ago, drawing away to win by eight metres untouched.
Although drawn a touch awkwardly in barrier nine, stable driver Lleyton Green is following out a horse with good gate speed and will have the option of the passing lane when push comes to shove.
A fantastic field of Western-Districts local three-year-olds assemble ahead of the lucrative Gold Crown series here at Bathurst in a month’s time, with this John O’Shea trained and driven gelding coming out on top.
A lightly raced horse, this Sweet Lou gelding only had a brief campaign in September of last year, winning one race in fantastic order over this track and distance. He has had a solitary trial leading into this race, absolutely demolishing his opposition in the process.
Drawn the better of the two primary chances with Runkle drawn one the second line, it is anticipated that O’Shea will be aggressive at the start with this gelding to put a bit of a gap in between him and his main danger. Provided he finds the top, this gelding looks hardest to beat.
Yet again we tackle the juvenile races, with one of the stars of the NSW trials stepping out to debut here.
Trained and driven by Anthony Frisby, this local pacer has been nothing short of phenomenal in all his trials. In his most recent trial, Frizza clocked a sub two-minute mile rate, nipping home an electric last quarter here at Bathurst.
The Rock N Roll Heaven colt has shown great versatility in his trials and has demonstrated fantastic gate speed, so he is likely to go forwards at the start. From there, he will take a power of beating.