Barrier draws have been conducted for the second round of qualifying heats for the Inter Dominion Championship at Bunbury on Tuesday night.
The second round of qualifying heats will be staged over the 1609m at Bunbury and the track record looks certain to fall; Lincoln Beach Girl is the current record holder in a mile rate of 1:54.1.
Mach Beauty (barrier three) was a big winner at the barrier draw for Heat 4 as he won’t have to burn too hard in order to cross Franco Ledger and My Hard Copy who have drawn inside him. Both inside horses will appreciate racing close to the speed while Our Hi Jinx and Cold Major had no luck once again drawing barriers seven and eight.
Heat 5 sees the series favourite Lennytheshark perfectly drawn in barrier three and sure to prove hard to beat. Northview Punter loves barrier one but he won’t be leading with Easy On The Eye drawn alongside in barrier two. Waylade has the inside of the second row to contend with and may be getting off the pegs early while Jason Rulz gets a fairly nice draw in barrier 10.
Much like the first round of qualifying heats, Heat 6 could see an early speed battle with Mach Alert drawing barrier three and Devendra in barrier four. Philadelphia Man will get the inside of the second row and will also be looking to get off the pegs as Dynamite Dude begins from barrier one. Flaming Flutter has barrier eight and will be set a task from his wide gate.
Heat 4:
Barrier Horse Trainer
1 Franco Ledger Geoff Webster
2 My Hard Copy Gary Hall Snr
3 Mach Beauty Shane Tritton
4 Billies A Star Michael Brennan
5 Bettors Fire Kyle Harper
6 Major Crocker Vince Vallelonga
7 Our Hi Jinx Ian Gurney
8 Cold Major David Aiken
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9 Crusader Banner Gary Hall Snr
10 Our Blackbird Ross Olivieri
Heat 5:
Barrier Horse Trainer
1 Northview Punter Gary Hall Snr
2 Easy On The Eye Shane Tritton
3 Lennytheshark David Aiken
4 Meadowbranch DJ William Flanagan
5 Libertybelle Midfrew Mike Reed
6 Shannonsablast Darren Elder
7 Lovers Delight Stephen Reed
8 Avonnova Ian Gurney
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9 Waylade Gary Hall Snr
10 Jason Rulz Michael Brennan
Heat 6:
Barrier Horse Trainer
1 Dynamite Dude Ross Olivieri
2 For A Reason Greg & Skye Bond
3 Mach Alert Ian Gurney
4 Devendra James Rattray
5 Machtu Gary Hall Snr
6 Classic American Gary Hall Snr
7 Blazin N Cullen John McCarthy
8 Flaming Flutter Geoff Webster
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9 Philadelphia Man Emma Stewart
10 Five Star Anvil Adam Kelly
Form analyst Trent Orwin previews all three qualifying heats of the Inter Dominion on Tuesday night.
Bunbury will host Heats 4-6 of the Inter Dominion as part of its eight-race program on Tuesday night. The barrier draws for each heat can be viewed here.
Race 3 – INTER DOMINION HEAT 4 – 1609m
This race looks fairly wide open with a number of winning chances and most of the runners being a place chance at best proposition with the right run.
Mach Beauty will lead with Franco Ledger likely to hold his back. Crusader Banner should be three back on the pegs and Our Blackbird behind him. Major Crocker may try and press forward to breeze otherwise Billies A Star may occupy that spot once again. My Hard Copy should get a good run 1×1 or 1×2 while Bettors Fire may not be so keen to hammer out this time around.
I’d expect a much-improved performance from Mach Beauty over his favourite trip. Won’t be diving into $2.50 about a horse that had a gut-buster in the first round and the short back-up which would be some concern.
Franco Ledger should get the run of the race and will only need to see daylight in the home straight to be a winning chance. His run in the heat was good when racing last and he hit the line well.
Major Crocker is the other runner that I want to be on at big odds. Was forced to work hard out wide in a quick last half and although he had the back of Lennytheshark (that horse is clearly superior), Major Crocker didn’t let My Hard Copy get past him.
Race 5 – INTER DOMINION HEAT 5 – 1609m
Lennytheshark could have a mortgage on this race after a brilliant win in the opening round but at $1.30, I am more than happy taking him on with an each-way proposition tailored more towards the place.
Speed map will be Easy On The Eye in front with Northview Punter on his back. Rest of the pegline could consist of Meadowbranch DJ, Libertybelle Midfrew and/or Shannonsablast. Lennytheshark may be forced to breeze or could take cover if Avonnova comes around. Couldn’t see him handing up to anything else in the field.
Jason Rulz will follow Easy On The Eye through and he is a chance of landing behind Lennytheshark which would be the perfect trail into the race.
He wasn’t afforded much luck in his first heat but was hitting the line strongly and would have finished much closer if he wasn’t cramped for room in the home straight.
Race 6 – INTER DOMINION HEAT 6 – 1609m
A very difficult heat to assess with Mach Alert and Devendra set to engage in a speed battle from barriers three and four.
I have very little confidence in the speed map as one of the above two will lead. There is a chance that Mach Alert could trail Devendra and Dynamite Dude could either be leader’s back or three back on the pegs. I have no idea who will be the breeze horse in the race with Philadelphia Man getting off the pegs and coming with a single run at them like he did in his heat victory on Friday night.
Really hoping there is a speed battle once again and if that is the case then Philadelphia Man is the class horse and he could be charging past them in the home straight.
Avonnova couldn’t hold him out and these two (Mach Alert and Devendra) may not be able to do so either if they engage in an early battle.
Mach Alert didn’t impress in his heat but the possibility of leading over the mile makes him a winning chance and I will have something smaller on him to win.
ByTrent Owen