ARARAT - The first event at Ararat Harness Racing Club's Wednesday meeting is indicative of the quality of racing on the card for the evening.
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The Choice Hotels Pace Final will to be run at 6.22pm, while heats of the final were run at Ararat on Sunday, October 14 and all entrants are in sound current form.
Brent Lilley has two starters, Collect NZ and Victoria May NZ, both of which have good barrier draws and will be very competitive in a race of many chances.
Those included among the chances are the one horse, Trysomemagic, and the two horse, Phils Grinning, both of which were placed in the heats.
The feature race of the evening is the final of the Spiller Family Sprint Series Final in which Peter Manning has qualified four starters, including the pole horse Cyclades, which is likely to start a short priced favourite after an impressive heat win. Also Lombo Blu Blood comes out of the three barrier, heat winner Torque Artraction from the five draw and Valentino Rustler from barrier eight.
The Manning family will be well represented by two strong prospects in the Ararat Tyrepower Pace for C4/C6 horses, the fourth event for the evening. Michelle Manning has the inform Wheatsheaf Avaball from barrier four and Peter has good winning prospects with Gosh Heza Rebel NZ, with Greg Sugars in the sulky.
For those patrons attempting to collect the $500 Pick Last Five Winners Jackpot, the seventh event (the Sicilian Cafe Pace) may present some challenges in selecting a winner, with nine of the 11 starters having recent wins and or placings to consider.
Those with the better draws Andy Gath's Mach Beauty, Michael Bellman's two horse Absolute Magic, Panorama Wealth to be driven by leading driver Daryl Douglas and Lycoming Racer from the Tony Pullicino stable may be the better chances.
The RSL Claiming Pace boasts a field of horses, which have collectively won more than 100 races between the nine starters.
The best value is likely to be the Trevor Preston trained Igetaround, with winning chances also going to Omniescent, Ultimate Deal and Cowboy Cadillac.
The Ararat Bakery Pace is likely to go to the Marnie Bibby trained and driven Soldiers Art, which has very sound recent form, others with chances are Shiney Beach Tinted Pearl and Tony Bond's He Did It Again.
The final event on the race program is the Noel Higgins Trot, which is a mobile start for T0/T1 trotters. The winner of this event is likely to come from among a number of local performers including Heza Maori, Towinjustone, The Night Wind and Mygreekkalesa.