IT’S on!
The clash harness fans have been waiting for between two of Australia’s brightest pacing stars, Ride High and Lochinvar Art, will happen when they meet for the first time at Ballarat on Saturday night.
Ride High’s trainer Clayton Tonkin confirmed his stable gun would chase his 16th win from just 17 starts in a 2200m free-for-all at Ballarat.
And, in a surprise twist, Lochinvar Art’s trainer-driver David Moran confirmed this morning, somewhat reluctantly, he would also back-up his Chariots Of Fire winner because of a lack of other suitable options.
Lochinvar Art bounced-back from a shock defeat two weeks earlier when he trounced a handy field at Bendigo on Saturday night, cruising away to win by more than 10m in slick times.
“He felt a different horse this time, he did it so easily and felt really sharp,” Moran said. “He’s still building, but that was a relief and shows he’s back on track.”
But Moran conceded meeting Ride High this week was not ideal.
“He’ll have a fitness edge on us this week,” he said. “But we have to meet at some stage and I haven’t got many option because my horse isn’t eligible for the Shepparton race (in two weeks) and then the week after that it’s Terang and I’m not taking him all the way from home (Shepparton) to Terang for a $20,000 race.
“I’ve thought it over for a day or so and I have to bite the bullet and go this week even though Ride High will have that edge on us.
“I have to look at his overall preparation, not just one race. Hopefully this will just be the first of many times we meet Ride High over the next year or so.”
Tonkin seemed unfazed at the prospect of clashing with Lochinvar Art.
“We’re going to Ballarat this week so if Lochinvar Art does as well, then we’ll see him there,” he said.
Adam Hamilton