A bout of Canine Coronavirus hasn’t derailed Christo Bale’s rise to stardom, with the excitement machine set to bounce back from a luckless last start defeat in Saturday night’s GR8 Eight Series (525m) at The Meadows.
Trainer Mark Delbridge’s big opinion of Christo Bale was justified with three scorching wins in succession at Sandown Park, clocking 29.21s and 29.29s, and The Meadows, where he posted 29.72s.
That airborne winning streak came to an end last Saturday when Christo Bale missed the start in a FFA event but came from near-last to be beaten just two lengths.
“He missed the start last week but it was still a good run,” said Delbridge.
“I suppose you could say he’s chasing his little backside off!
“He hasn’t had that many starts but I’d say he’s probably up there with the better dogs I’ve trained.”
Christo Bale started his career in blazing fashion, winning six of his first eight starts and qualifying for the Group 1 Silver Chief at just his ninth start before illness temporarily halted his rise to stardom.
WATCH: Christo Bale (3) comes from midfield to clock a scorching 29.21sec (Best) at Sandown Park.
“He was out for six or seven weeks and he’s probably not coming out as well as he was before the virus,” Delbridge explained.
“It was very hard to scratch him from the Horsham Cup Final. He had box one too!
“I brought him back over 390m at Ballarat which didn’t really suit him but he had to start somewhere. In his first three starts back he drew the red but blew the start every time.
“I always knew he could run but he probably did surprise me a bit with those times he’s run over the last few weeks.”
The winner of 10 of his 23 starts, including five from 11 at The Meadows, Christo Bale is $2.50 favourite with TAB in race 5 on Saturday’s card at 7.58pm to make amends for last week’s third placing.
Australian Cup hero Fernando’s Riot, which is resuming after a short break, has the advantage of box one and is the $3 second elect, with Weblec Ace, a best of night 29.79s winner last Saturday, at $3.50.
“Even if he misses it half a length, as long as he doesn’t get whacked getting around the first corner I can’t see why he can’t win,” Delbridge said.
