It took a few strides to ‘start him up’ but once Rolling Stone got into full ‘swagger’, he gave punters ‘satisfaction’ in a G3 Northern Districts Cup heat (450m) at Shepparton tonight.
Rolling Stone ($1.40F), pictured above with trainer Karen Pitt, was last out from Box 1 but displayed amazing acceleration to thread his way through the field and lead entering the first turn. From that point, the result was never in doubt as he strolled to a 2.4L win over Kalter ($11.40), with rank outsider All In Deeds ($59.30) a further 2.8L away third in 25.27sec.
Rolling Stone (by sire Jagger Swagger), who turned two years old on October 1, notched his seventh victory from 12 starts and his third win in four starts from Box 1.
He is a force to be reckoned with in Saturday night’s $25,000 to-the-winner final.
WATCH: Star prospect Rolling Stone (1) overcomes a tardy start to claim a G3 Northern Districts Cup heat in 25.27sec.
However, Rolling Stone wasn’t the fastest heat winner. That honour rested with Sonny Daze.
Prepared at Toolleen by Rodney Clark, Sonny Daze ($2.70F) led throughout to defeat All In Abby ($18.10) by 4L, with Popcorn Payout ($2.90) a further 1.2L away third in 25.06sec.
He registered his sixth win from 17 starts – including three from his past five. And it was his third win in five starts from Box 5.
Meanwhile, Bett’s Blues ($4.60) ‘kicked a goal’ in his heat accounting for Smart As Jack ($1.80F) by 0.8L, with So Say ($11.20) a further 3.4L away third in 25.23sec.
Trained at Parwan by Paul Abela, the lightly raced Bett’s Blues ($4.60) bounced to the lead from Box 5 and made it three wins from six starts. He also remained unbeaten from three starts at Shepparton.
And All In Morgan completed a big night for Harston mentor Tony Duncan when successful in the final heat.
All In Morgan ($2.40F) commenced well from Box 8 and quickly took up the running to defeat Magic Bulldozer ($6.10) by 1.8L, with East Street ($17.10) a further 0.8L away third in a moderate 25.44sec. It was his third win from only six starts.
Duncan has All In Morgan and his older half-sister, All In Abby, in the $25,000-to-the-winner G3 Northern Districts Cup final on Saturday night, October 31.
HEAT WINNERS
Sonny Daze 25.06sec (Best)
Rolling Stone 25.27sec
Bett’s Blues 25.23sec
All Inn Morgan 25.44sec
GROUP 3 NORTHERN DISTRICTS CUP FINAL (450M)
Shepparton – Saturday night, 31 October
First prize – $25,000
1 KALTER (Alice Peat, Axedale)
2 SONNY DAZE (Rodney Clark, Toolleen)
3 SMART AS JACK (Adele Powell, Stanhope)
4 MAGIC BULLDOZER (Matthew Marshall, Bacchus Marsh)
5 ROLLING STONE (Karen Pitt, Pearcedale)
6 BETT’S BLUES (Paul Abela, Parwan)
7 ALL INN ABBY (Tony Duncan, Harston)
8 ALL INN MORGAN (Tony Duncan, Harston)
Reserves
9 POCORN PAYOUT (Alice Peat, Axedale)
10 SO SAY (Jason Whybrow, Wangaratta)
WATCH: Sonny Daze (5) spears the lids on the way to an all-the-way win in 25.06sec, the fastest of the four heats.
