By Adam Hamilton
The trademark Tony Herlihy cheeky grin was back at Ballarat last night.
That’s because normal programming resumed and his stable star Bolt For Brilliance put a testing few weeks behind him to easily win his opening round Inter Dominion heat.
The win saw his Grand Final odds tumble from $2.60 to $2.
There wasn’t anything special about the win, but it was simply the fact he showed he was over his setback and had settled well in Victoria.
The race changed when Sundons Courage crossed favourite Majestuoso at the start, allowing Herlihy to push forward and take the front without fuss on Bolt For Brilliance.
They dawdled through the middle stages and Bolt For Brilliance ripped home in 27.7sec to win as he liked by 7.1m over Sundons Courage with Majestuoso another eight metres away third.
“That turned out really well,” Herlihy said. “He was a bit lazy in front at times, but that’s not a bad thing at the start of the series like this.
“He got away with a win and still had a pretty easy run. As long he comes through it well, he should build on it.”
Bolt For Brilliance has gate nine (two on the second row) for the 1690m second round heats at Shepparton on Tuesday night, but it’s a weak field and he should be too classy.
The top two local hopes Just Believe and Queen Elida fought-out heat one with Just Believe finding the front, dictating and dashing home in 56.7sec.
The last and weakest heat was won by the Craig Demmler-trained and Jodi Quinlan driven outsider Ofortuna.
Quinlan also won a pacing heat with four-year-old Act Now, who came off a one-one trail in the most hotly contested race of the night to beat a gallant Expensive Ego and leader Mach Dan.
Expensive Ego’s run to sit parked in blazing 1min54.1sec mile rate for 2200m – just 0.4sec outside the track record – was monstrous. He firmed to $5 outright favourite the final.
“He was terrific tonight, but we expected him to be. He’s been so good at home,” Expensive Ego’s driver Luke McCarthy said. “He thrived on the four runs last year and we brought him here a bit on the big side so he can build through the heats.”
Act Now is trained by Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin, who won another of the pacing heats with the classy Honolua Bay, who wore down leader Zeuss Bromac.
Husband and wife Greg Sugars and Jess Tubbs capped a golden night when their best pacer Better Eclipse easily won his heat, following their earlier trotting heat win with Just Believe.
Former classy Kiwi A Gs White Socks ran a terrific third to Better Eclipse.
Trainer Jason Grimson was thrilled with NZ Cup runner-up Majestic Cruiser’s opening round third to Honolua Bay.
“He hadn’t done much since NZ and it’s all about peaking him for the final,” he said.