Tasmanian two-year-old harness racing pacer Ignatius will line up in a heat of the NSW Breeders Challenge Series at Menangle tomorrow (Tuesday) and his trainer-driver Todd Rattray expects him to qualify for a berth in the semi-finals on Saturday week.
Ignatius scored an impressive all-the-way win in the 2YO Sweepstakes final in Hobart last start to keep his unbeaten record intact.
The Roll With Joe gelding has drawn ideally in gate two in one of two heats for colts and geldings with the first six across the line in each heat to progress to the semi-finals.
Ignatius is being stabled with the trainer's older brother James Rattray who prepares a big team at his training complex in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.
"Ignatius went to Sydney last week and he's settled in well at James' (Rattray) place and I couldn't be happier with the barrier draw," Todd Rattray said.
"It's a challenge for the horse because it's so hard to get a guide as to how he compares to a lot of the others in the race but he'll go into the heat fit and I guess we'll all know after the race whether he's up to it."
Ignatius won his Sweepstakes final by almost 17 metres defeating a quality line-up and his mile rate of 1.58.2 and he scampered home his last 800 metres in 56.6 seconds without being fully extended.
"He's run a really good time in Hobart last start on a track that was rain affected so I'm interested to see what he can do on the Menangle track that produces really fast times."
The semi-finals will be held at Menangle on 10 June with the $125,000 Group 1 final at the same venue on 25 June.
Peter Staples